Big Springs Charter School had a spacious 8,000 square foot gym, but they didn’t have a gym floor. The builder had installed vinyl composition tile (VCT). This is a great floor for high traffic areas like shopping malls and grocery stores. But, it’s a horrible option for sports such as basketball or volleyball.
The VCT flooring did not provide the correct traction for sports. It also lacked any noticeable shock absorption. It either needed to be removed and replaced, or covered up. Removing the floor would cost roughly $15,000 to $20,000. So, finding a sports floor that could go on top of the VCT would be the least costly option. And, of course there’s the time required for removal. This additional work would have delayed installation of the new floor by at least a week or two.
Big Springs Charter School
10664 N US HWY 83
Leakey, TX 78873
830-232-7401
Website
Lessons from a Sister Campus
Big Springs Charter School is affiliated with Hill Country Youth Ranch (HCYR), located about 45 miles to the north east. The HCYR gym had low pile carpeting that had been laid decades earlier. Hoping for a more suitable athletic surface, HCYR considered Sport Court® flooring as well as other options. Ultimately, they chose to replace the carpet with cushioned vinyl flooring. Coaching staff quickly realized that the vinyl was no better than the carpet. In some ways, the carpet may actually have been the better floor. Either way, they still had a floor with improper traction and limited shock absorption.
Video of Game Play at
Legacy Christian Academy
Discovering Sport Court® Gym Flooring
During the 2020/21 basketball season, the Big Springs Hawks played at Legacy Christian Academy in San Antonio. Big Springs basketball coach and superintendent, Albert Hernandez, liked the gym floor at Legacy Christian. Speaking with the coaching staff at Legacy, Albert learned that the floor was made by Sport Court®.
In February 2021, Albert reached out and asked us to take a look at the Big Springs Charter School gym. We quickly provided a cost proposal with a few design options.
Numerous Benefits for Big Springs Charter School
Having played on Sport Court® high gloss gym flooring, coaches and players had no doubts about performance. But, there were so many other benefits.
- Installing Sport Court® flooring meant that the VCT could simply be covered up. The cost and mess of removal could be avoided.
- The floor did not have to go wall to wall, but could be expanded later. This provided immediate savings while allowing more Sport Court® flooring to be added at a later date.
- The school wanted their icon and team name painted on the floor. We chose to do this offsite before the flooring was delivered. This reduced installation time and provided a labor savings.
- The volleyball sleeves needed to be repositioned. One sleeve was a foot out of alignment. The other was only about an inch out of place. While installing the Sport Court® flooring, we removed the sleeves and re-installed them at their correct location. South Texas Sport Court is one of the few gym flooring companies with the capability to do this while the floor is being installed. And, by not subcontracting this out to another company, Big Springs saved money.
Installing the New Floor
The sport Court® flooring was delivered in early May. Big Springs decided that it would be best to wait until the summer break before beginning installation. This would create as little campus disruption as possible. Plus, there wasn’t any urgency to have the floor immediately installed. Basketball and volleyball seasons were over. So, the gym wasn’t being used for games or teams practice.
Our crew arrived on Friday, June 4, 2021. By the end of the day, the volleyball sleeves had been removed and re-installed and much of the new flooring was laid. We also patched up some sunken areas around the volleyball sleeves. This created a perfectly smooth surface upon which to install the new flooring. The remainder of the flooring was installed the following day. Game lines were also painted.
Install times are not always this fast. However, because the flooring did not extend to any of the walls, we saved a lot of time. We did not have to trim any flooring to fit at walls or doorways. And, we didn’t need to install cove molding or any thresholds at doorways. It also helped that we had a crew of 6.
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If you’d like to learn more about Big Springs Charter School, please visit their website or one of their numerous social media pages.
To learn more about Sport Court® gym flooring or to get our expert assistance laying out your gym, please contact South Texas Sport Court.
