Knowledge Base

Sep 26 2024

A Flooring Showdown in the WNBA Playoffs

The Minnesota Lynx vs. Connecticut Sun

September 29, 2024

As the WNBA playoffs heat up, basketball fans are buzzing with excitement for the upcoming clash between the Minnesota Lynx and the Connecticut Sun on September 29th at the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN. This matchup isn’t just significant for the teams and their dedicated fans—it also highlights a unique connection between them and their basketball floors. Both teams have built their seasons on floors expertly crafted by Horner Sports Flooring.

A Unique Connection: Horner Flooring and the WNBA

While the teams take center stage, it’s essential to recognize the behind-the-scenes craftsmanship that sets the stage for their performances. Both the Lynx and Sun play on a ProKing® portable basketball floor made by Horner Sports Flooring, a company based in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, renowned for its high-quality sports flooring solutions. This partnership ensures that both teams have the best possible playing surface, contributing to optimal performance, player safety and fan satisfaction.

Horner Sports Flooring’s commitment to excellence is reflected in the unique artwork tailored for each team. The vibrant colors and team logos not only enhance the aesthetic appeal of the courts but also create an atmosphere that energizes players and fans alike. Whether it’s the Lynx’s distinctive blue and green or the Sun’s bold orange and yellow, the floors are a canvas showcasing team spirit and pride. A floor’s artwork is also the team’s most powerful branding tool, boldly displaying the team’s logo.

The Impact of Quality Flooring

High-quality flooring is crucial in professional sports, particularly in basketball, where agility and precision are key. Horner Flooring utilizes advanced technology and materials to create surfaces that provide optimal traction and cushioning. This means players can perform at their best, making sharp cuts, explosive jumps, and quick pivots knowing the risk of injury has been minimized.

As the Lynx and Sun prepare to battle it out, their players can trust that the court beneath them will support their athletic prowess. The synergy between the players and their flooring plays a significant role in the outcome of the game. Each dribble, pass, and shot will be executed on a surface that’s designed to meet the high demands of professional competition and to meet all the specifications mandated by basketball’s governing bodies.

What to Expect on Game Day

Fans can anticipate a thrilling game filled with intense action, strategic plays, and perhaps a few highlight-reel moments. Both teams will bring their A-game, fueled not only by their competitive spirit but also by the pride of representing their respective brands on a Horner designed floor.

As the countdown to September 29th begins, the anticipation builds—not just for the game itself but for the unique story lines that intertwine the teams, their fans and the basketball courts. The Lynx and Sun will face off in an epic battle of skill and determination, all while competing on a quality floor that plays a vital role in their performance.

Aug 16 2024

5 Best Portable Basketball Floor Features

Portable basketball floors serve a very specific purpose. They are purchased for use in venues and arenas that host multiple events. There could be a Monster Truck rally on Sunday and a hockey game on Monday afternoon, and a concert Monday night. When basketball is part of the mix, it is generally a professional basketball team or special basketball tournament.

What you Should Look for in a Portable Floor

So what should you be looking for in your portable basketball floor?

Since time is money, and time purchased to use a venue is BIG money, you want your portable floor to have a fast conversion. That means it takes as little time as possible to put it down and take it up. Having lightweight panels helps make this happen.
You want your portable basketball floor to be rugged. Assembly, disassembly, moving, storing, all put stress on the floor panels. Not being able to compete due to a broken floor is a disaster and storage is expensive, so storing spares is expensive and due to art work, many panels are unique.
You want your floor to be assembled without using special tools. Special tools get lost and could prevent you from installing or removing the floor.
You want your portable floor to be intergrated, meaning there are no loose parts to get lost. Losing pins or clamps could, again, prevent the floor from going down or coming up.
Get your floor from a reliable company. If you ever need repair parts, you want your floor to come from a well established company. In addition, an experienced company will provide help learning your new floor and training install crews.

Portable Basketball Floor Compliance

It is also important that your portable basketball floor is compliant for the standards set by your governing bodies. Working with an established, reputable floor manufacturer ensures you get a floor that is tested and certified to meet the standards you need.

For 50 years - Horner ProKing®

In 1974, Horner launched the ProKing portable basketball floor. For 50 years the ProKing floor has evolved ever closer to perfection. Today, the ProKing floor is the first choice of teams and organizations needing a portable basketball floor. The ProKing’s superior build quality is instantly apparent to all who have shopped for a portable.

When an organization needs a floor for an over-seas event, they choose ProKing for its light weight yet rugged construction. ProKing can withstand the rigors of container shipping and difficult environments, and be competition ready in just 2 hrs.

Contact Horner Sports Flooring

Aug 09 2024

Gym Flooring

Gymnasiums

Historically gym flooring has been wood. Not just any wood, but hard maple or sugar maple, species: Acer saccharum. This wood has a Janka hardness of almost 1400 making one of the hardest, most dent resistant woods available.

Communities across the country see the high school gymnasium as the place where most sporting events happen. It is also a place to vote, or gather for graduation. In short it is the community’s social hub, so its important to choose the right flooring for this space.

Why Wood Gym Flooring?

Wood flooring systems for gymnasiums provide designers with an almost unlimited number of options to customize the floor and meet the exact needs of the customer. Wood floors today always include an under structure. Because of this, dozens of performance metrics can be tuned for the specific use and specific users. For instance: The floor’s resiliency can be adjusted for 180 pound collegiate athletes or 65 pound grade schoolers. Doing this provides a floor that is both safer and more enjoyable to play on. In addition, the floor can be made to handle roll-out bleachers on the perimeter, and still be optimized in the play area.

This under structure inherent with wood floors also means that wood floors can include options like volleyball post anchors, power plugs and other enhancements.

Talk to your planner about wood floors for your gym. Then have them contact us for information on how Horner Sports Flooring can make sure that your new gym flooring meets all your requirements and expectations.

Synthetic Gym Flooring

Polyurethane and Rubber Gym Flooring

a woman playing badminton on red polyurethane gym flooring. — Cushion Court, a Padded Polyurethane Floor System

There a number of synthetic floor systems used in gymnasiums, but the most common one is poured polyurethane. These systems are a more budget friendly system and in some cases provide a superior surface. For instance, polyurethane floors are great for Pickleball, as shown above. Another great use for polyurethane systems is badminton and tennis courts.

A popular design, known as a hybrid, uses both wood and rubber or polyurethane in the same space to derive the benefits of both. Here is a space that uses Horner’s Olymp-X flooting for the tack and maple for the basketball courts.

Contact Horner Sports Flooring to get your gym flooring project on track.

Aug 08 2024

Basketball Floor

Why is a Basketball Floor Wood?

Early construction practices in this country used wood for just about everything. Unlike today, wood floors were ubiquitous. School class rooms had wood floors, not tile or vinyl. In fact, every floor surface in a school was wood, with one exception, restrooms were normally ceramic tile. Gymnasiums had wood flooring as well.

Early in the 20th century, schools began to use tile (sometimes asbestos tile) for classrooms, restrooms and other areas like the cafeteria. However, the gymnasium floor continued to be wood. It is likely tile was tried in gyms, and found to be unacceptable for all the reasons wood is used. Wood is forgiving when someone falls and creates less fatigue. The finish on a wood floor provides superior traction or grip to the players and wood provides a clear surface where game lines can be easily seen.

The Wood Basketball Floor

Legacy Systems - James Naismith iconic photo holding peach basket and soccer ball. — James Naismith iconic photo

Basketball was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith to keep students at his school active and possibly to keep football players in shape during the winter months. It was mostly played indoors in school gyms, as it is today. Because these gymnasiums had wood floors, floors for basketball continue to be wood flooring.

As the game of basketball developed into a national pastime, equipment for the game evolved. The ball became purpose made, the “hoops”, even shoes were designed and engineered specifically for the game. The floor was no exception.

Evolution of the Basketball Floor

These floors have become engineering marvels. National and international governing bodies have strict performance guidelines and testing agencies to ensure the floors meet or exceed their standards for top tier levels of competition. Flooring manufacturers have risen to the challenge and today produce the safest, highest performing basketball floors ever made. Today, companies like Horner Sports Flooring, have developed multi-stag resilient floors, high performance portable floors, and low profile floors that meet or exceed DIN, PUR, FIBA and other standards.

Basketball Floor Development Continues

Horner Sports Flooring continues to perfect the basketball floor. With advancements in active resiliency, low gloss finish, and progressive locking, Horner stands at the forefront of basketball floor development.

Contact Horner Sports Flooring

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