Meet our #SEAPartners - SPORTENG
The Sports Environment Alliance works to support our family members' journeys in protecting the places where we play for generations to come through education, linking them to the wider sport and planet community, and celebrating their good {planet} leadership and actions.
We are proud to do this important work in collaboration with our incredible network of #SEAPartners.
Over the coming months we are excited to introduce you to our partners and their work, starting with SPORTENG.
Creating fields of play
SPORTENG is Australia’s leading Field of Play consultancy, specialising in the planning, design, and construction inspections of Fields of Play for all sports. One of SPORTENG’s company codes is to ‘promote positive environmental outcomes’, and like SEA, they firmly believe that sport can champion sustainable behaviours.
The award-winning company boasts a wealth of experience and expertise in providing leading-edge technical advice for all forms of Fields of Play. From a community soccer pitch upgrade to major stadium development, SPORTENG has all bases covered, including Field of Play design, civil engineering design, irrigation design, visualisation and 3D design, turf advice and project management.
“SEA and SPORTENG are collaborating together in championing positive sustainable behaviors in the sport Field of Play design environment.”
Jarrod Hill, SPORTENG CEO & Director
SPORTENG’s commitment to focus their designs on environmentally responsible principles aligns with SEA’s mission to do more {for the world} with less {footprint}.
The company acknowledges that there are many ways sustainability can be incorporated into the design of fields of play and encourages these principles in its projects.
Re-using site materials such as pavement, selecting high-performance, low-carbon products, embracing footprint-lowering technologies, and sourcing locally produced products are just some of the ways sporting clubs and organisations can ensure they are protecting their places of play for future generations.
Projects leading the {sport & planet} way
Among SPORTENG’s 800+ projects, the company is particularly proud of the work that has had a positive impact on the environment.
Two examples can be found in Melbourne’s inner suburbs, tennis and netball courts at a Richmond school and outdoor netball courts in Waverley.
In both cases the existing courts were non-compliant and required redevelopment to meet current sport governing body standards. Rather than demolishing and disposing of the existing pavement materials to landfill, SPORTENG’s new designs re-used the existing pavement materials.
At the Richmond project, the company went even further by building a new pavement with compliant surface grades over the old one, resulting in zero construction waste.
Working to #SEA_theChange
SEA is particularly proud of the work and {sport & planet} change our partners are creating in collaboration with our growing member base.
SPORTENG has worked alongside #SEAMembers West Coast Eagles, Fremantle Dockers, Melbourne Demons and Hawthorn Hawks for their respective training facilities.
While the latter two projects are yet to get underway, the two Western Australian projects are complete and contain a significant sustainability component.
For both projects, the existing site materials were tested to determine their suitability for re-use as the growing medium for the playing surface profiles. In both cases, the naturally occurring sands were suitable and subsequently used to construct a perched water table profile, which helps to retain moisture in the soil and means irrigation can be less frequent and use a smaller amount of precious water.
Partnerships help champion environmental change
Partners like SPORTENG remind our #SEAMembers, and the wider sporting community, of the fundamental importance of asking questions about environmental sustainability from the very beginning of any development.
“It is a privilege for our #SEAFamily to be able to lean on the experience, knowledge, and technical expertise of the team at SPORTENG to make sustainable fields of play decisions that are ambitious and planet-focused.”
Dr Sheila Nguyen, SEA CEO
What can be reused or recycled from existing materials? What happens at the end-of-life of new materials? How can we incorporate a smart irrigation system? By answering these questions and more, we can embed the natural environment in the fundamental building blocks of our projects and demonstrate to our community that we are committed to protecting our places of play.
We #envirolove having partners like SPORTENG, with unrivalled expertise to provide technical advice and help us answer these questions.
Want to find out more about SPORTENG? Visit their website, or check them out on socials: LinkedIn I Twitter I Facebook I Instagram
