Student-athletes competing in the 2017 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Final Four will be shooting for a championship on basketball courts manufactured by Connor Sports, the Official Court Provider of the NCAA from wood sustainably harvested from The Nature Conservancy’s Two Hearted River Forest Reserve.
Connor Sports as Official Court Provider of the NCAA single-sourced all the timber from Sugar Maple trees in the Conservancy’s Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified forest in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
“As Champion of Environment, our goal at Connor Sports is to provide our NCAA customer with the best possible court products using responsible forestry practices,” said Jason Gasperich, Technical Director for Connor Sports. “This unique method will mark the first-time Connor Sports has single-sourced all the timber for a customer project from one forest, and Sugar Maple trees are the industry’s most prized species known for their durability, strength and light coloring.”
The Two-Hearted River Forest Reserve, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, spans approximately 24,000 acres. Sustainable forestry practices include ecological thinning, selectively cutting trees to improve the health of the forest that are also economically viable. Thirty-five acres of the Reserve were sustainably harvested to create this year’s championship floors.
The men’s court will be installed Friday, March 24 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ, while the women’s court will be installed Tuesday, March 28 at American Airlines Arena in Dallas.
The 2017 Men’s Final Four Official Court from Connor Sports is a QuickLock™ portable and is 70’ X 140’ and totals 9,800 square feet using 397 4’ x 7’ panels weighing approximately 188 pounds each or 14 tons in total. The 2017 Women’s Final Court is 60’ X 120’ and totals 7,200 square feet using 262 panels weighing a total of 10.3 tons. The installation process led by Connor Sports technicians is approximately six hours.
Source: PR Web