Dalton, GA., The American Sports Builders Association (ASBA), the national organization for builders and suppliers of materials for athletic facilities, has announced the winners of its annual awards. Awards are presented each year to facilities built by ASBA members, which display construction excellence.
Awards are presented in various categories: Tennis Courts, Running Tracks, Sports Fields, Pickleball Facilities and Track & Field Facilities. Within some categories, there are divisions; for example, the Sports Field category recognizes single- and multiple-field facilities.
Winners of awards were announced at the Association’s 2022 Technical Meeting, presented from December 2-5 in Palm Desert, California.
Among the winners for Distinguished Facilities-Multi-Field was AstroTurf’s PNC Park and Citi Field at the Ripken Experience in Aberdeen, Maryland.
AstroTurf completed the replica Major League Baseball fields in the spring of 2022, bringing the total number of fields at the Ripken Experience Aberdeen to nine.
The Ripken Experience™ chose AstroTurf’s Diamond Series Diamond-i OPS synthetic turf systems for the two new fields. Purpose-built to enhance playability, Diamond Series fields include legend-shaped polyethylene fibers to mimic natural grass, a synthetic clay infield engineered to provide a more natural sliding distance, and AstroTurf’s RootZone®, a texturized fiber system that reduces infill migration and creates realistic ball hops.
The state-of-the-art fields in Aberdeen are replicas of the home stadiums of the New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates. They will allow Ripken Baseball to host more teams from around the country. In 2022, Ripken Baseball expects to host over 1,500 teams, 25,000 participants, and 100,000 visitors to Aberdeen.
“The Diamond Series is the best of the best when it comes to baseball turf systems. We know these new fields will serve their purpose well – to let even more young athletes experience the feel of playing in the big leagues,” says Aaron Klotz, Manager of Baseball Sales at AstroTurf. “We’ve been making technologically advanced baseball fields for over 50 years, and the fields in Aberdeen are a labor of love for the next generation of baseball.”
“The initial response we’ve received from our teams who have already experienced playing on the new AstroTurf fields has been incredible,” said Lauren Morris, General Manager of The Ripken Experience™ Aberdeen. “The field conditions remain immaculate through all seasons and conditions.”
The new AstroTurf® fields are replicas of Citi Field, the home field of the New York Mets, and PNC Park, the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In addition to these fields, The Ripken Experience™ Aberdeen is also home to youth-sized replicas of Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, Memorial Park, Citizen’s Bank, and Nationals Park. There’s also a full-sized replica of Old Yankee Stadium, the home of the New York Yankees from 1923 to 2008.
About AstroTurf®
For athletes and sports enthusiasts, AstroTurf® has redefined the way the game is played. The brand offers advanced, multi-sport, and specialized synthetic turf systems with proprietary engineered technologies. A growing number of high schools, colleges, professional sports teams, and municipalities continue to select AstroTurf-branded products for their premium quality, technical superiority, and safety. To learn more, visit AstroTurf’s website at www.astroturf.com.
About the American Sports Builders Association: The ASBA is a non-profit association comprised of designers, builders and suppliers in sports facility construction. The ASBA sponsors informative meetings, publishes a quarterly magazine, produces a mobile app of court and field diagrams, publishes books and technical construction guidelines for athletic facilities, and keeps its members aware of the latest developments in the industry. It also offers voluntary certification programs in tennis court, running track and sports field construction as well as a certificate in pickleball court construction. To learn more visit ASBA’s website at www.sportsbuilders.org.