STMA names its 2021 Innovative Award winners

Esto Retractable and Sports Turf Company have won 2021 Innovative Awards from the Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA) and its Innovative Award Task Group.

The “Innovative Awards Program” recognizes STMA commercial company members who have developed a product, service, equipment or technology that enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of the sports turf manager and/or makes the playing surfaces safer and/or more playable for athletes.

Chosen by STMA’s Innovative Awards Task Group, entries are evaluated on a wide range of qualities including whether or not they fill a need; are creative; save time and resources; are cutting edge; make a task easier or more productive; improve quality; protect the environment; and improve efficiency.

Esto Retractable offers a patented design for a Retractable Pitching Mound to allow field conversion in as little as two hours, allowing a field to hold a baseball game in the morning and play soccer that same evening. Creating a multipurpose venue is critical to the ability to attract and schedule various sports such as soccer, concerts, lacrosse, rugby and other activities. Field conversion is a scheduling challenge when a pitcher’s mound is involved. To manually remove a pitching mound and rebuild it after a nonbaseball event takes time, materials and labor. Esto Retractable’s patented system facilitates simple conversions, minimizing disruption to the integrity of a pitching mound’s form or grounds crew efforts.

Sports Turf Company’s Artificial Turf System is comprised of a shock pad, wood fiber-based infill and dense turf. The AstroTurf Rootzone Blend HD Artificial Turf features a dense three-fiber turf system, with slit-film fibers and AstroTurf’s patented Trionic fiber, that adds a RootZone layer of texturized fibers that encapsulate infill, provides better shock absorbency and features less infill migration than traditional systems. Brock Powerbase YSR shock pad technology features large drainage channels, shock-absorbing structures and 25-mm thickness. The unique properties of BrockFILL infill decrease field temperatures and give the feel of a more natural surface with increased traction and footing for athletes. The organic infill provides a fast, firm field surface with cleat interaction that most closely resembles a well-maintained natural grass field.

STEC Equipment was awarded an honorable mention for its VGR Top Changer.