Toadvine Blog

Lacey Township High School officials in New Jersey never imagined the dilemma they would face on the evening of September 17, 2011 as a routine high school football game turned quickly into an investigation and the closing of a portion of the stadium. A game spectator broke through one of the stadium bleacher seats and although no injuries were reported, the stability of the stadium was in question and turned the future of Lacey Township High School upside down.

A thorough investigation followed and structural engineers were called in to evaluate the future of the stadium seating. With the stadium closed for investigation, school officials were left scrambling wondering how to remedy this situation. As with most small athletic programs, funds were very tight and extent of the pending repair work could be more than their small budget could accommodate. 

This scenario in New Jersey is not uncommon. Athletic departments and school districts choose where their limited dollars will be spent and often routine stadium maintenance is either overlooked or eliminated and most schools take their chances on the structural stability of their facility and opt out of spending money on routine bleacher maintenance. As with the officials in Lacey Township, this can be a very risky and costly decision.

Toadvine Enterprises offers guaranteed safety and peace of mind with our maintenace and safety inspection program for all indoor and outdoor seating and equipment. Certified and trained manufacturer technicians perform visual inspections of your facility and/or school equipment which includes a detailed report of any findings or actions that need to be taken. Toadvine can perform your annually-required maintenance inspection and can provide yearly contracts that work around your needs.  

To secure the safety of your school families and patrons, let Toadvine perform the maintenance necessary to keep your school free from physical injuries or accidents. Fill out our Maintenance and Safety Interest Form to get started. 

Everyone loves to see their name in lights and your sporting facility may be just the place for them to do that. Advertisers and sponsors deserve a special spot of prominence at your facility and Toadvine Enterprises can help you honor those important people and businesses. 

You can give dedicated sponsors and important donors that guaranteed exposure by offering them their choice of advertising opportunities around your school sporting facility. Ad space is available on signs, stadium seating, score boards, and numerous spots throughout your school and will help generate opportunities for schools to offset the cost of new equipment and installation. Not only will the aesthetic appeal of the banners and signs generate visual appeal, they will also generate revenue for schools looking to boost their athletic dollars. Most of the time, the space used for the advertisement is space that would go unused without the dedicated sponsorship. 

Here are the top 10 places within a school sports facility that a school can utilize visually appealing advertising to generate funds for their athletic department.

1. Colosseum Chairs – Instead of a number on the seat, place the donor name on the seat for special recognition.
2. VIP Seating – Select a special section to be recognized for special donors or groups and increase their game day comfort with unique additions like arm rests and special seat backs.
3. Banner Rail – Utilize unused space on your colosseum with the touch of a remote and roll up or down the special message of your sponsor.
4. AdMesh Banners – Vinyl coated, weather resistant banners are perfect for capturing the attention of outdoor sports fans.
5. Concourse Banners – Capture the attention of pedestrians with concourse banners as they walk around the perimeter of your facility. 
6. Grandstand Banners – Take advantage of any unused space with banners that honor and promote your advertisers.
7. Vertical Banners – As patrons walk to and from the concession stand and the restrooms, these vertical banners will catch their attention.
8. Field Level Ads – As the most visible position on a field, utilize the sidelines, fences and walls at eye level to become the focal point of your grandstand, field or arena. 
9. Loge Boxes – Give advertisers a special place to pamper guests in a place specially designated and enhanced for their game viewing pleasure.  
10. Aisle and Stair Risers – Every person attending a game must ascend a set of stairs to get to their seat, capitalize on this fact by placing your sponsors name in bold colors for everyone to see.

Think you can't afford stadium seating? Consider the amount of advertising dollars you could generate from donors and sponsors that will actually see their name in lights at every game they attend. Most of these themes can be incorporated into existing facilities, but if you would like to explore the opportunity of generating more advertising dollars in conjunction with installing stadium seating, contact us for more ideas on how we can assist you.

After six-year-old Toby Lee fell between a 13-inch gap between the footboard and the seat of a bleacher set at a community sports area in Minnesota and died of his injuries, legislators decided to pursue greater scrutiny in the area of bleacher safety. 

In 1999, after the the tragic death of Toby Lee, Congress petitioned the Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue national safety standards for bleacher and grandstand facilities due to numerous injuries to children at basketball and hockey arenas resulting from falls between the gaps of bleacher seats and guardrails.

Congress stated in a letter to the CPSC that uniform national standards were needed to help efforts at the state level to prevent injuries and deaths due to poorly designed or out of date bleacher facilities. The recommended national standards to be implemented were to include:

• Minimum spacing requirements for gaps between bleacher guardrails and between seats and footboards for new construction

• Side and back safety features

• Guidelines for retro-fitting older facilities

Although Congress emphasized the importance of watchful parents during sporting events, they also stated the responsibility venues have to insure that their facilities are safe. The desire for safer facilities not only locally, but nationwide, created the desire to press for strengthening safety standards legislatively in order to quickly inact the establishment of safe bleacher standards.   

House Bill H.R. 836 was created in 1999 and entitled, “The Bleacher Safety Act” proclaiming that new and safer standards would be adopted within six months. Minnesota was the first state that required the issuing of this federal standard.

To help your school meet those required safety standards, Toadvine Enterprises has created Vine & Branch, a maintenance and safety inspection program for all your indoor and outdoor seating equipment. Our maintenance and safety program can help you maintain your required annual inspections and can also help you with any upgrades or written records. For more information on keeping your school bleachers safe, fill out our Maintenance and Safety form and a member of our staff will get back to you. Let Toadvine help you keep safety the name of the game.

Although soccer is undeniably touted as the most popular sport for women in the NCAA, soccer had not gained the popularity at the college or youth level, until recently. With the growing popularity of the World Cup championship, the sport of soccer is sparking massive growth and interest in spectators, media, and corporate sponsors while promoting greater cultural awareness.

Ticket purchases to the 2012 World Cup soccer game were made overwhelmingly by US patrons than any other country, other than the host nation. ABC and parent company ESPN have spent a combined $425 million to secure the US rights to broadcast the World Cup games, the most spent by any single country.

As these national trends emerge, locally, those same trends are also being mirrored. Youth soccer leagues including Upward, YMCA, and more competitve leagues like Mockingbird and Javanon have seen an explosion of interest and participants within the last several years. Multiple leagues abound within the area that provide opportunities for children to play on a competitive level up to high school age. Rec leagues have also seen heightened interest and talent emerge as a result of continual play at a more competitve level.

The Kentucky Youth Soccer Association, an organization with more than 50,000 players, coaches and administrators, feels so strongly about the rise in soccer interest, that they are taking that message on the road this month with a first of its kind mobile soccer marketing tour entitled, “the Kentucky Youth Soccer Experience.” This soccer informational tour has plans to visit 60 soccer communities and events throughout the area to promote soccer and healthy living, while also bringing awareness to the battle against childhood cancer, in honor of a young local soccer player, Lane Goodwin, who lost his battle with cancer last year.

Investment in soccer at the collegiate level also saw a huge boost recently, when the University of Louisville announced that it would build a 5300 seat, $16 million soccer complex which would become home to the UL men's and women's soccer team and attract Big East Championship Games. This complex is slated for a September 2014 open. 

Players who thrive at the collegiate level still don't have to leave Louisville to further their playing career. The River City Rovers, a Premier Development League with more than 73 teams, is considered a “shop window for major league soccer players” ages 17-30. 

Opportunity abounds at all ages in our community as the soccer boom continues to magnify. From pee wee to grown up, players who love the game of soccer can stay involved at every level and score many years of playing right here in the Louisville area. 

The cardiac Cardinals have been a thrill to watch all season and that thrill only intensified on Monday night when the University of Louisville turned on the heat to come back from a first-half, 12-point deficit to defeat the Michigan Wolverines 82 to 76.

As the top overall seed in the NCAA tournament, UL earned those bragging rights with their 35-5 regular season record and a 16-game winning streak coming into the tournament. But character and determination really began to dominate when the 13 players on this tight knit squad suffered the devastating injury of point guard Kevin Ware. 

Although they fell behind in the second half of the semi-final game to Wichita State by 12 points, and in the first half of the finals to Michigan by 12 points, a scoring spurt led by Luke Hancock and four straight successful 3-pointers exhilerated the crowd and surged that fixated drive the Cardinal team has displayed all season. Not only did they come to the Georgia Dome to win, they came to win for Ware. With Hancock's on fire 3-point shot, Siva's 18 point solid contribution, and the dominance of Chane Behanan with 15 points and 12 rebounds, the Cardinals were unstoppable and came away with a hallmark 6 point win, very well one of the most memorable in Coach Pitino's 12 seasons at UL.  

The Lady Cards had a shot to earn the Championship title in New Orleans, as they faced the Uconn Huskies on Tuesday for the NCAA crown. Although the women's team faced an uphill battle to the top rung, they came up short against Uconn 93-60 in a hard fought battle. 

With a 29-9 season record, the Lady Cards were not expected to make it to the final dance as a 5th seed, but after pounding upsets to Baylor, the victory was close at hand. Although they didn't earn the title, the Lady Cards had an incredible season and pushed beyond all expectations to the final round.

Toadvine Enterprises is proud of the University of Louisville Cardinals and congratulates them on their stellar seasons and Championship title this year.

image credit: Louisville Cardinals 

Each year thousands of people, many of whom are young children, are seriously injured or killed in falls from bleachers. These tragic events occur for a variety of reasons ranging from poor maintenance to a change in code that didn't require stringent rules surrounding guardrails or smaller openings around the footboards. Schools and universities should be held to a standard of care to proactively maintain their equipment, reducing accidents and legal risks by improving safety for students and community members. Here are some suggestions that will help reduce risk and improve safety. 

Inspect bleachers before and after they are used

Inspections should be made every time telescoping bleachers are rolled out and put away to ensure proper working order. Any noted damage or repair should be repaired immediately. 

Regularly Perform Thorough Inspections

Thorough inspections should be conducted on a regular basis, at least once a month, or once a week if they are heavily used. Use a checklist to make sure key components are not overlooked. Checklist can serve as a routine for future inspections and a record of issues and repairs.

Conduct Annual Inspection With a Certified Technician

While you and your staff can regularly inspect bleachers and grandstands, it is also important to have annual inspections performed by a certified technician. If you are considering installing new bleachers, ask the company to include a 10-year annual inspection service in the contract. Send an employee to shadow the inspection to give you insight into what can be done to keep bleachers up to code.

Clean Underneath Bleachers Regularly

Outdoor bleachers can accumulate a lot of debris and trash if not cleaned regularly. Keep the surrounding area free of trash to help reduce risk and improve safety. With indoor bleachers, trash and debris can potentially clog parts and cause operating problems. A powerful blower is helpful to make sure areas are clean underneath after indoor bleachers are used.

Post Safety Signage

Although mandatory, signage is often overlooked on bleachers. Post warning and safety signs to help ensure proper treatment and use of bleachers. 

Train School Staff

Maintenance staff and designated school staff should be trained to properly operate indoor bleachers. There should, however, be a limited amount of people authorized to operate the bleacher system. Teach operators and controllers how to spot issues when operating, so problems can be reported immediately.

Institute a Preventative Maintenance Program

Having a preventative maintenance program in place will allow schools to track and schedule items that are not in immediate need of repair, to be scheduled for maintenance. Using an automated, computer-based system is especially useful as projects can be created and work orders can be tracked.

Toadvine Enterprises offers maintenance services that ensure your stadium seating and bleachers are working as they should be. Learn more here and use the contact form to get in touch with us about our maintenance program. 

Before the first buzzer of the game sounds and players begin to hustle on the court, they have been made keenly aware of the risks that go along with playing organized sports. Just as those risks are legitimate, schools and sporting facility managers are becoming even more alert to risk off the court. Great attention has been brought lately to the risk involved to spectators and fans sitting on the sidelines. More focus than ever surrounds the liability that sports facility owners and schools face due to faulty or stray equipment and accidents that can occur while attending a sporting event. 

In order to protect your school or facility against devastating injuries or accidents, strong consideration should be paid to obtaining liability insurance. Liability insurance in sports acts like an umbrella protection for everyone involved in the sporting event, including spectators who may get hit by a wayward ball or fall on your property due to an unstable bleacher issue.  

Besides the benefits of providing medical and legal protection if an incident should occur, liability insurance includes sports equipment insurance which gives support for repairs on equipment and facilities that may have been damaged during a game or practice. Facilities can request reimbursement for repairs or purchase brand new machines or equipment. 

The insured can also take advantage of this insurance to request repairs or renovations done on bleachers, fields, sound systems, lights, and food services. Liability insurance also covers repairs, renovations, and replacements on damaged sports equipment and facilities after a fire, flood, or earthquake. 

Insurance is often referred to as one step in the risk management process. By securing liability insurance for your sports facility, you are managing the probability that risk will come your way and taking steps to protect your employees, players, and owners from further damage.

Within the last couple of years, an influx of stories has flooded the sports world, highlighting the potential dangers that stadium seating and bleachers pose to sports fans and onlookers. Just recently 30 NASCAR fans in Orlando, Florida were injured in the stadium as a result of a massive wreck on the track that spilled over to the stadium. Many people affected by this incident are calling the accident “gross negligance.” Although schools and universities aren't equipped with this identical form of stadium seating, the question fans of any spectator sport are beginning to ask themselves is, “are sporting facilities taking action to properly prevent risk?”  

The parents of a 14-year-old cheerleader in Pennsylvania are asking that same question to the Fayette County school board after their daughter was crushed under the school's bleachers and sustained broken bones, nerve damage, and facial injuries. The high schooler was practicing in the school gym with her squad when coaches asked the cheerleaders to push back the bleachers into their storage poisition to gain more practice area. As the group pushed back the bleachers, they collapsed, pining at least two cheerleaders underneath. The parents contend in their lawsuit that school district officials should have known that these bleachers posed a potential hazard. The school system settled with the family for $235,000. 

A $1 million lawsuit was filed on behalf of a five-year-old Tennessee boy who was attending a basketball game and attempting to climb down the steps from the mezzanine level to the bleachers. The boy slipped, slid under the railing and fell approximately 10 feet onto the floor on his head. 

This lawsuit alleges that the irregular height of the steps connecting the bleachers to the mezzanine and the improper design of the railing contributed to the accident. The plaintiffs contend that the equipment was either poorly manufactured or installed at a later time. School officials admitted that other accidents had occurred as a result of using those same steps and agreed to make improvements to their equipment and pay an undisclosed amount to the family of the injured little boy. 

As evidenced by these events, stadium seating maintenance and inspection is critical. Without it, serious, even fatal injuries can occur costing your school thousands of dollars and creating years of suffering for unsuspecting patrons. 

Toadvine Enterprises is happy to introduce our maintenance and safety inspection program, Vine and Branch, an inspection program for all indoor and outdoor seating equipment.  

Using certified technicians, we can provide the annually-required maintenance inspection on all seating equipment and yearly contracts. Keep your maintenance records up-to-date and prevent the tragedies and liability that can occur when you don't. Fill out our Maintenance and Safety Interest form and we will get back with you quickly to discuss your needs.

“We can meet all of your sporting equipment, installation and equipment inspection, repair and maintenance needs.”

Toadvine Enterprises, Inc. is excited about serving the Tennessee sports market. Toadvine has been serving Kentucky for 32 years and is now able to bring its full line of Porter and Gill sports equipment products to all of Tennessee, Southern Ohio, and Indiana. Toadvine Enterprises will take your requirement for sporting facilities, stand alone equipment purchases, and ongoing support through inspection, repair, and maintenance, and provide you with conceptual design, build, and installation solutions.

Porter and Gill Sports is the largest manufacturer of sporting facilities equipment in the United States. Porter and Gill athletics provides sporting equipment ranging from basketball goals, volleyball systems, soccer goals, field goal posts, everything track and field, wall padding, floor covers, field hockey goals, PE equipment, and much more. Porter has helped revolutionize the sport facilities world with its quality products and competitive prices. 

With its knowledge and expertise in the sports equipment industry, Toadvine Enterprises will assist you in any sports facility project, no matter the size. Whether the job is for a university or elementary school, Toadvine can handle the job and help give recommendations that will best suit your facility.  

Toadvine Enterprises has helped both communities and schools create and maintain their sporting equipment and athletic facilities. The expertise and knowledge of our sales teams regarding gymnasiums and football stadiums, along with product knowledge of track and field equipment, will help deliver the best solutions to meet your needs.

Toadvine can serve you where you are. If you want to ask us a question, get a quote, or discuss a specific piece of equipment, a call to our sales department can address your needs. You can also go to our website and have a conversation with us. Please call us at 1-877-211-6925. 

During the months of March and April, Toadvine will be offering an additional 5-10% discount on products from Porter and Gill Athletics! Feel free to call and speak to a representative about any Porter and Gill product or to receive a free quote! 

A massive crowd of thousands has gathered. Spectators fill the coliseum as a collective roar of excitement fills the air. Athletes from around the world have come together in Athens for the first modern Olympic Games. Only the finest have been chosen, those at the top of their game.

All focus has shifted to the track and field events. Those with lightning speed skill and unprecedented agility will come out on top. The year is 1896. The wooden hurdles are set in place and embedded in the ground. Perfect jumping ability and running skill moves the winner through the first ever 110-meter hurdle event at a record time of 17.6 seconds. 

More than 100 years later, Aries Merritt utilizes his running ability to sprint, hurdle, and sprint again, maintaining steady momentum and keeping a steady center of gravity to clear 10 hurdles in the 110 meter race at a new record time of 12.8 seconds.

Just as progression has been made in the skill of talented athletes, progress has also been made in the design, make up, and functionality of competitive hurdles. Ancient wooden hurdles have since been replaced by L-shaped frames with integrated counter balances which allow hurdles to fall over with pressure and eliminate the risk of injury. More durable materials are used, along with features that allow the hurdle to be adjusted to different heights. If you are searching for track and field equipment options, here are a few hurdles offered by Toadvine Enterprises that will exceed your technological expectations and leap you into competitive excellence. 

• Gill Continuum Automatic Hurdle – This is considered the safest, fastest and most unobtrusive hurdle available for use in any competitive arena. 

• National Aluminum Hurdle – Made of aircraft aluminum, this high-tech hurdle is adjustable to 5 different heights. 

• Elite High School Hurdle – Constructed of aluminum tube construction, this hurdle has welded support for extreme durability 

• Gill Essentials Hurdle – The most economical hurdle made with no pull-over technology, this no frills equipment is perfect for a start up high school track and field team.

Toadvine Enterprises supplies sporting equipment of all kinds to schools and facilites in Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, and Ohio. Contact us for more information about our Track and Field equipment.