Toadvine Blog

Keep your equipment organized and mobile

Generations back, teams would throw all their basketballs into duffle bags and canvas sacks, but now we have the professional look and ease of cages and carts that make storage and transporting dozens of basketballs easy. 

The 35 ball capacity ball cage from Porter Athletic (93710) is made with a steel frame and has casters that swivel, making it easy for anyone to move from storage to the court. The lid locks to keep basketballs secure when you want to keep them contained. 

We also carry heavy-duty ball carts that come in 15 and 30 ball capacity (single cart-93700, double cart-93701). These carts also have steel frames with swivel casters for easy transportation and storage. Are you getting ready for the basketball tournaments? Pick up a cart for each end of the court and add to the professionalism of your facility. At the same time, make life a little easier for your equipment managers.

Don't forget the sketch clipboards for the coach (3771). You always have to be ready to draw up the game winning play with five seconds left on the clock. Call us today with your questions and for details on pricing (502) 241-6010.

Start getting out all your hurdles and dusting them off. Make sure you are completely prepared for this track and field season. Toadvine Enterprises has some great deal on some products that no school should go without.

• Pole Vault Valuepack
• Vault Boxes Pole Vault Accessories
• High Jump Valuepack
• High Jump and Pole Vault Landing Systems
• Pole Vault Standards and Crossbars
• Pit Garages
• PacerFX and Carbon Mystic Poles and Accessories
• Hurdles (Manual, Automatic, and Aluminum)
• Customized Gateboards
• Batons
• Timing Systems
• Speed and Strength Training Equipment
• Discus, Shot Put, and Javelin Equipment
• Field Cages and Barriers
• Throw Circles
• Steeple Chase and Water Jump Barriers
• Take-Off Boards and Jump Platforms
• Sand Pit Systems and Covers
• Timing and Photo Finish Line Systems
• Starting Pistols and Blanks
• Race Accessories like Starting Numbers, Flags, and Finish Line Tape
• Manual and Digital Lap Counters
• Wind Indicators and Wind Gauge Kits
• Stop Watch and Time Keeping Devices

Whatever you need you should call Toadvine today. Toadvine has affordable options for every budget. We look forward to getting you on course for a successful track and field season. 

It is a pretty simple answer; money! The strength of most schools can be completely tied to the success of their sports programs, or lack there of. University of Maryland President, Wallace D. Loh said "By being a member of the Big Ten Conference, we are able to ensure financially stability for Maryland athletics for decades to come."

Every university is scrambling to position themselves the best they can in conferences that will give their schools the most exposure. Several factors come into play and one of those is sustainability. Maryland must pay the ACC $50 million just to exit the conference, but Loh thinks that is a small price to pay for the success they expect to have in the Big Ten. Maryland has had it's share of success but smaller schools with less than stellar sports programs are thinking about this as a no brainer. Any opportunity smaller schools have to get in with the likes of Indiana or Kentucky they will go for it. 

This shake up in conferences is becoming the norm. It use to be that no school would consider a move like this but with a new wave of professional sports business tactics sweeping the college campuses it appears the future of colllege sports is going to look more like this from now on. The job of the athletic director at these universities is also becoming increasingly difficult with coach loyalty being none existent it is increasingly more difficult to keep the talented coaches. The same is true of the conferences themselves. They will eventually have to rewrite their agreements with schools to make it too financially painful to leave and join another conference. 

We provide nearly every product you could possibly need for your sports complex or facility. More than that, we design sports facilities from simple to complex. We provide our clients with more than seating design and basketball and football goal placement. We walk with you through the design-build process to the installation and completion of the project.

Anyone can design a rectangular building, throw bleachers against the wall, and install a few hoops with a scoreboard attached to the wall. It requires a company like Toadvine Enterprises to consider the detail of how every fixture and piece of equipment should complement the function of the whole facility. We have been in sports facilities where 20 percent of the spectators had their view of the scoreboard or the athletes blocked by the scoreboard or some other facility component. Subtle changes in design can make the user experience improve dramatically. Considering how spectators enter and exit a facility, or how they access concessions and restrooms can make a huge impact on the performance of your facility. Most people do not expect their facility to serve them well, beyond  it being a place to a house a sporting event. What if the experience of the event was drastically improved? What would that mean to your program?

Knowing what works and what doesn't is an art and a science. We have every detail in mind when we design a sports facility. We have to consider the spectator experience and at the same time the environment we are creating for the athlete. Everything has to work together to exceed expectations.  That is the main reason we have partnered with the companies we have. They share our commitment to excellence and innovation. Companies like Nevco, Porter, Gill Athletics, Interkal, Dant Clayton, Seating Concepts, and List Industries. We have to be selective because we are only as good as the product and service we can offer our clients. Choose more for your facility design and improvements, choose Toadvine Enterprises.  

Pom-poms and ponytails make up only a portion of what cheerleaders do today. Standing on the sidelines and chanting a catchy phrase used to get the job done in a crazy fanatical crowd, but today flipping and throwing girls in the air is just part of the routine.

Because of the increase in skill and potentially dangerous stunts cheerleaders are performing today, there is a movement by the American Academy of Pediatrics and other concerned groups to designate cheerleading as a sport to improve the safety rules and create better supervision over the sport.

In a statement released this month, the AAP says that there needs to be better awareness about the rigors and risks of high school and college cheerleading so that cheerleaders can be subject to on-line athletic trainers, limits on practice times, and better qualified coaches. 

Although the overall injury rate is lower than in girls participating in soccer, gymnastics, or field hockey, the rate of catastrophic injury which includes skull fractures and paralyzing spine injuries, is much higher.

Some schools have safety recommendations for high school and college cheerleading which includes limiting the height of a pyramid in high school to two and restricting routines including pyramids, tossing, or tumbling to be performed away from hard surfaces. Although these guidelines are helpful, many physicians and team leaders would like to see this mandated to keep cheerleaders safer. 

This movement just recently ran into a major obstacle in August of 2012 when the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that cheerleading can not be considered a sport. For cheerleading to be considered a sport, it must have coaches, practices, competitions during a defined season and a governing organization. The key to this ruling was that cheerleaders don’t usually have competition as their primary goal, so they cannot be considered a sport. 

Health professionals and sports advocates will continue to push for this safety regulation because they see the long-term benefits of it for those involved. For now, cheerleaders will have to develop careful individual standards.

Loge boxes are areas of private seating that typically have an open space for mobile seating like folding chairs, but are bordered by railing. They give the spectator a more flexible viewing experience along with a little more privacy during the event. They also have the conveniences of drink rails, defined private spaces, and can be customized to your objectives. If you are a high school or collegiate sports program, you may wonder why you need something like this. Here are just a few examples of why loge boxes can really help your program.

A Way To Honor Special Guests
If you have faculty that you want to honor during events or during athletic matches, a loge box makes great sense for you. A loge box can be used at every event as a way to honor teachers, donors, sponsors, faculty, visiting governing officials, returning alumni, and others.

Create Option Between Luxury Suites and Club Seating
If you have luxury suites you can use loge boxes as the middle option and as a way to increase your revenue. If there are people reserving the luxury suites there will be a portion of spectators who would find loge boxes to be the price point that they are comfortable with and would be excited to reserve their own box for the season. If a business reserves the box you can suggest ad placement there in addition to or included in the price.

If Luxury Suites Are Too Nice
If your program is not at the point of having spectators open to the amenities of a luxury suite, loge boxes can become your high end offering to sponsors and spectators willing to spend a little more on their sports experience. Loge boxes do not have to be much different than the standard club seating. They can be different enough to fill them, but not too different that they don't fit into the environment of your overall facility.

Contact Toadvine Enterprises today with your questions and let us walk you through the benefits of loge boxes for your program. We look forward to your call.

Do you have a multi-use athletic field? If you are planning on combining your soccer and football programs on one field, we have the perfect solution. You should consider the "Revolutionary Goal Post" which can rotate a full 180 degrees. One person can turn the goal in less than a minute. It will lock in the forward or reverse position. It is fully secure and tamper proof, and uses two padlocks per goal. The day after the football game you can turn the goal away from the field and have your soccer match without the interference of the goal. 

We have a wide variety of H-Style football goal posts, standard goal posts, steel and aluminum, and even the combination Football Goal Post/Soccer Goal in a wide variety of sizes and options. Don't let your budget stop you from getting the goals your programs need. Call us today and we can walk you through some great options.

Every program should have their school name prominently displayed throughout their facilities. We can customize football goal post pads for your program. There are 14 colors available and you can add the special flare to the field that has been missing. 

Don't forget the small but important end-zone pylons. These bottom-weighted markers require no additional hardware to install, and will move when an athlete comes in contact. They come in sets of four and help the officials make the crucial close calls. We also carry spring loaded pylons. They work best for natural grass and will stand true for all to see. All our pylons meet NCAA and NFHS rules. 

Call us today with your football accessories needs. 

If you have seen the epic film, Chariots of Fire, you may recall the scenes where the runners are preparing for the start of the race. The runners kneel on the ground with little trowels or spades and prepare the ground. They would dig small holes for their feet to gain traction and would not slip. So much has changed from the early 20th century for track and field equipment, including starting blocks.

The first starting blocks emerged in the late 1920s and became a standard and accepted practice in the 1930s. By 1937, the use of starting blocks became mandatory so runners could not have any unfair advantages and all the runners would have "a fair start." The earlier starting blocks would be large enough that the entire length of the runners' feet could rest on the block, but in the early 1970s, starting blocks were modified so the heel would overlap the top edge of the block. The thought behind this was an increased burst because of the calf muscle was more fully engaged.

The former blocks were referred to as high blocks and the shorter versions are commonly called short blocks. There has been a switch back and forth to which are used in recent years, including in the Olympic games. The science behind the start is getting more sophisticated all the time, and although technology is always improving, the most important thing you hear runners saying is they need to feel comfortable in the starting blocks.

Toadvine Enterprises offers the full line of Gill track and field products. We have many great options for starting blocks in every price range, including Fusion, National, Scholastic, Moye, All Surface, and the all-important transporter starting block carts to protect your investment and make moving and storing them easy and safe.

We are at the front of the science of speed and are helping schools get "faster starts through advanced technology." Call us today with your track and field equipment needs. Toadvine Enterprises (502) 241-6010.

Has that score flip chart seen its better days on the court? Does the crowd have to twist their neck backwards or squint under a net to see the score on each possession? If so, it’s probably time to check into a new scoreboard. If your school has been contemplating a purchase of a new scoreboard, there are varieties you should examine before making a choice.

Tabletop scoreboards 

This style of scoreboard is perfect for elementary school games in which minimal information is needed for display. This type of scoreboard can be displayed for scoring and timing of an athletic event, then put away and stored. It can be transported from game to game or stored away safely after each game. This is the most economical option for schools with basic sporting events for smaller children.

Wall-mounted scoreboards

This type of scoreboard will become a permanent focal point in your gym and will completely revolutionize crowd involvement as they fully engage in seeing the score change and knowing game statistics. The start up cost of wiring this scoreboard is a bit more, but will pull a crowd together at sporting events. 

Multi-sport scoreboards

These types of boards are helpful in upper grades or high school when playing various sports such as soccer, basketball, hockey, and volleyball. The time, score, game period, player, and team fouls can all be displayed in one place. Great advancements have been made in these scoreboards, which generally use LED (light emitting diode) technology and sometimes even wireless capabilities. More recently, scoreboards have been designed to be more user-friendly so that students can operate them with ease. If your school is hoping to create an all around virtual experience, scoreboards can also be used with computer software to create a “big league” effect through video display and a movie type atmosphere.

Another important factor to consider when looking for a new scoreboard is choosing the right size scoreboard based on your gym or field's size. Not only can Toadvine Enterprises help you find the perfect scoreboard your facility based on your school's budget, we can also help you choose the correct size. Contact us to learn more.