Crusaders F.C. play on Xtreme Turf at Seaview Stadium
The top Irish professional club, Crusaders F.C. plays in the IFA Premiership. Due to the harsh winter climates, the club needed a synthetic turf alternative to natural grass at its Seaview Stadium.
The club also demands a surface that performs like natural grass and protects the players from impact and lower extremity body movements. After a careful review of the many turf systems, Crusaders F.C. selected the latest Xtreme Turf for its professional players.
The transition to this synthetic football turf at Seaview will be fruitful for the club. The matches at Seaview Stadium in Northern Ireland will be the only field to survive the harsh weather conditions over the winter period. It also allows the stadium to expand its potential uses especially after earning the important FIFA Two-Star certification. This FIFA Recommended Pitch enables Seaview to host international competitions as the FIFA field test confirms the highest playability, safety and performance.
Here you can read the full article : Crusaders F.C. Selects Xtreme Turf for Stadium Pitch
Dutch national team opens Cruyff Court in Johannesburg township
FIFA Preferred Producer for Football Turf, ACT Global Sports is pleased to have supplied Xtreme Turf for the mini-football pitch installation for the Cruyff Foundation.
“We are grateful to be involved with this exciting event. The field will benefit the community by encouraging teamwork and boost the spirits of all the young children.” -Director Chris Clapham
Published on www.cruyff-foundation.org
To great interest from journalists from all over the world, the players of the Dutch national team opened the Orange Cruyff Court Hillbrow today in Johannesburg (South Africa). The football pitch with changing rooms and a WorldCoaches office is a gift from the players to the youth of the disadvantaged neighbourhood of Hillbrow. Over the next few years, the pitch will be used to get the township’s youth involved in sport.
The opening was performed by the entire Dutch national squad, together with Johan Cruyff, Ruud Gullit (President of The HollandBelgium Bid) and Henk Kesler (CEO Professional Football of the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB)).
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Lasting legacy for South Africa
“The opening of a Cruyff Court is always a special moment, especially with such a delegation in such a special location,” said Johan Cruyff. “However, the opening is just the start. As with every court, we have a multiyear plan for getting the local youngsters involved with the Cruyff Court. In Hillbrow, we work closely with local organisations, such as the Witwatersrand University and Madulammoho Housing Corporation. KNVB’s WorldCoaches will use the court for years after the FIFA World Cup to give the township’s children football training and educate them with life skills – on the basis of my 14 rules that have a place at every Cruyff Court. This means that the Cruyff Court is a lasting legacy for the country.”
The players of the Dutch national team have donated a portion of their match fees to raise the funds of 1 million rand (about € 100,000) needed to build the facilities. The Orange Cruyff Court Hillbrow is a collaboration between the Dutch national team players, the KNVB, the Johan Cruyff Foundation, the Dutch embassy in Johannesburg and the local Witwatersrand University and Madulammoho Housing Corporation.
Here you can read more about the Orange Cruyff Court Hillbrow in Johannesburg.
How does synthetic turf compare to natural grass?
ACT Global Sports completed a natural grass study at Texas A&M University to find out how their brand of Xtreme Turf compares to natural grass with the focus of sport performance. Kyle Field at Texas A&M was selected as it is well-known for being one of the top natural grass football stadiums in the United States.
As North American buyers seek sport performance benchmarks for American Football, additional research has been needed to also understand the relationship of international synthetic turf standards as established by FIFA and a top natural grass field for American Football. FIFA utilizes natural grass benchmarks in areas including foot stability, traction, shock absorption and ball interaction to create its synthetic turf standards. These benchmarks have led to safer, better performing synthetic turf fields.
The results for Xtreme Turf by ACT Global Sports, fall within the same range as the FIFA Quality Concept standards for synthetic turf for the conducted tests against natural grass.
To read the full article please visit http://actglobalsports.com/ACTGlobal_NaturalGrassStudy_press.html.
‘Bull’ CAF match to be played on artificial turf
By Bodwa Mbingo 29 January, 2010 10:00:00
Posted by the Swazi Observer
SOCCER – The country’s Orange CAF Confederations Cup representatives, Mbabane Highlanders, will play their first leg match against Zimbabwe’s Caps United on the artificial turf of the Rufaro Stadium in Zimbabwe’s capital city of Harare.
The match will be played on Saturday, February 13 and kick off time is 3pm. Rufaro Stadium is one of Zimbabwe’s multi-purpose stadiums currently used mostly for soccer matches and has a capacity of 35,000 people.
Sponsored
Just like the country’s MECCA, Somhlolo National Stadium, the stadium benefited from the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) through it’s GOAL programme that sponsored the renovation of the stadium’s natural grass pitch into an artificial football pitch installed by ACT Global Sports.
Referees for this encounter will come from Botswana while the Match Commissioner will come from Lesotho. The second leg match will be played at the Somhlolo Stadium on February 27. Highlanders’ Public Relations Officer (PRO) Dumisani ‘DU’ Sibandze yesterday confirmed the venue and date of the match. He urged all the team’s supporters to gear up for the trip to Zimbabwe as they will need them in their numbers. He said judging by the stadium’s capacity, the team’s players could be overwhelmed by the home supporters hence the need for the Highlanders fans to also travel with the team to rally behind them.
“We have to do well in Zimbabwe to make sure that we advance to the next stage of the tournament. We have a good record in the CAF tournaments and our return now should not be outdone by an early exit from the tournament. All the team’s supporters should prepare for the trip as we’re planning to leave Zimbabwe exactly after the match to be in time to watch the Swallows match against South Africa’s Supersport the following day. This is now a war for all the Swazis and we have to stand by each other as the country’s representatives,” he said.
Synthetic Turf Council Certification was awarded to ACT Global Sports
ACT Global Sports’ dedication towards innovation, quality and value was recognized by the Synthetic Turf Council in December of 2009. The leading synthetic turf producer proudly accepted the Synthetic Turf Council (STC) Certification as a Material Manufacturer and Supplier, reinforcing its place as a top manufacturer of artificial turf. This recognition comes on the heels of FIFA selecting ACT Global Sports as a FIFA Preferred Producer for football turf.
The STC’s certification program was established for customers to have assurance that the product they are receiving will exceed the STC’s quality guidelines, and that the company’s representatives will follow the STC’s code of professional and ethical code. This certification process included a due diligence review and reference check by the Synthetic Turf Council.
Please visit ACT Global Sports’ News page to read more about the Synthetic Turf Council Certification.
ACT Global Sports becomes a FIFA Preferred Producer
In October of 2009 FIFA, the world governing body for football turf selects ACT Global Sports to join the FIFA Preferred Producer Initiative. The FIFA Preferred Producer Initiative was launched to further meet the demands of top quality playing surfaces. FIFA recognizes synthetic turf as an alternative to the maintenance and durability limitations of natural grass pitches and included artificial turf in the Laws of the Game.
ACT Global Sports is extremely proud of their achievement and will continue devotion to research and development, to deliver a higher quality football turf for users throughout the world.
Please go to Act Global Sports’ news page to read more about their acceptance as a FIFA Preferred Producer.
The 2009 leading global trade show, FSB Cologne
Considered the leading global trade fair for sports facilities, the 2009 FSB took place once more on October 28th – November 30th in Cologne, Germany. The three day event was full of networking, promotion, and social activities. The trade show’s industry focus was towards amenity areas, sports and pool facilities. The worldwide synthetic turf producer, ACT Global Sports attended the event once more to showcase their line of artificial turf products and sports field equipment.
ACT Global Sports welcomed their partners, dealers and attendees from all over the world including Thailand, Australia, Brazil and Europe during the event. Directors Wil Ditzel, Chris Clapham, and John Baize were very pleased with the number of attendees. Recently accepted by FIFA as a FIFA Preferred Producer, ACT Global Sports proudly showcased their new logo along with a new lines of synthetic turf including the new ‘S’ series (spine fiber).
This is the third time ACT Global Sports participated during the FSB. Each time, the synthetic turf producer increased their presence among their fellow exhibitors. Their booth was visually appealing and was considered a great success, fulfilling its purpose to draw in new customers and potential partners. Throughout the space you could see ACT Global Sports’ new marketing efforts to “Be More.” Attendees were eager to hear the advantages Xtreme Turf offered for indoor and outdoors sport fields. Along with sports turf, the extensive landscape range was showcased.
After the event ACT Global Sports hosted a dinner at the Restorante Le Vita, to honor their global dealers. Fine Italian cuisine was served along with an array of red and white wines. Directors Wil Ditzel, Chris Clapham, and John Baize made speeches, announcing their gratitude for their dealers hard work and support. Hurrah’s and clinks of the glass were made to embrace a successful event.
For more information on the FSB please contact ACT Global Sports at info@actglobalsports.com or visit their website at www.ActGlobalSports.com.
California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment Review Verifies Safety of Synthetic Turf
Issued Friday, October 30, 2009, Toxic Treadmill
/PRNewswire/ — Representing the latest convincing data on the safety of synthetic turf, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), California Environmental Protection Agency, released a report last week dated July 2009 which indicated there is a negligible human health risk from inhaling the air above synthetic turf. The OEHHA summary also stated “it is unlikely that the new generation of artificial turf is itself a source of MRSA.”
OEHHA searched the available literature related to the safety of new generation artificial turf fields, those which contained crumb rubber infill. They analyzed whether these fields emitted levels of chemicals or particulates into the air that are a health risk when inhaled, and also any potential risk factors for MRSA infection. Based on the data from two 2009 New York studies and a 2006 report of indoor fields, they found that “Both reports concluded that these fields did not constitute a serious public health concern, since cancer or non-cancer health effects were unlikely to result from these low-level exposures.” Other key findings included:
– Analyzing the chemicals detected above the fields in New York, OEHHA noted that “many of these occurred at similar concentrations in the air sampled upwind of the fields” – which suggests that the source of these chemicals was not from the turf fields.
– Cancer risks are negligible, lower than many common human activities. OEHHA created a test scenario to determine the exposure and health risks of an athlete playing on an artificial turf field from age five until age 55 for nearly 100 chemicals. The results showed an exposure to five chemicals with a lifetime cancer risk above one in one million, which is considered a negligible risk. As OEHHA explains “these estimated risks are low compared to many common human activities.” To give context, their website states that the cancer risk of breathing California air (in 2000) due to diesel particles was 540 in one million.
– Synthetic turf is not a source of MRSA. OEHHA stated that “It seems unlikely that the new generation of artificial turf is itself a source of MRSA, since MRSA has not been detected in any artificial turf field.” That conclusion is consistent with the findings of the Penn State January 2009 study conducted on the lifespan of staph on grass and synthetic turf, which was sponsored by the STC and the Pennsylvania Turfgrass Council.
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2016 Summer Olympic Games
It was announced on October 2, 2009 that Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was awarded to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. This is another major victory for hosting major sports events for Brazil as Rio hosted the 2007 Pan American Games and Brazil will also host the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In the storied history of the Olympic Games, South America has never hosted the Olympics and surely this is a major reason in the decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC gathers bids and issues a report ahead of the vote. Considerations include a review of the venues, transportation factors, financial package, and public support.
ACT Global Sports is pleased to be involved in the development of synthetic turf in Brazil. Its Xtreme Turf has achieved the first FIFA certified field in Brazil at the famous club Corinthians Paulista in Sao Paulo, Brazil. As part of its development program managed by the FIFA Quality Concept for Football Turf, FIFA has engaged ACT Global Sports to install its Xtreme Turf at a national training center in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
Xtreme Turf in Action
Extreme sport performance and training requires Xtreme Turf. This training session demonstrates the confidence and safety a soccer goal keeper as well as players have on the latest synthetic turf or artificial grass surface by ACT Global Sports. Filmed at the training center of professional football club La Liga.
