This article was freely inspired by and translated from Playrite’s article ” Artificial Surfaces for Wheelchair users “. Although the statistics given in the article relate to the reality in the UK, Atmosphäre stresses the importance of offering a product suitable for all users.
With over 7 million people in the UK suffering from some form of mobility impairment (2.6 million Canadian citizens in 2017), and the Disability Discrimination Act, which requires that any sports construction in no way prevents a disabled person from enjoying their workout, the need to specify the right products for your facilities is paramount.
At Playrite and Atmosphäre, we’re proud to offer the highest quality sports surfacing products for everyone from grassroots community sports centers to elite sports facilities. More specifically, we want our products to be suitable for all users, especially those using wheelchairs in field sports.
Matchplay 2: the right solution for everyone
To ensure that our products will serve the next generation of sports enthusiasts, we have tested our Matchplay 2 surface to determine the coefficient of friction when used by wheelchairs.
The surfaces require a coefficient of friction of between 0.75 μ and 1.0 μ to be deemed suitable for Labosport‘s wheelchair sports tests. The laboratory determined that Matchplay 2 had a rating of 0.96 μ, deeming it safe for wheelchair users and suitable for a number of sports, including: tennis, field hockey, soccer, netball and basketball.
