ASBA Holds Meeting in Ponte Vedra Beach
December 14, 2010
Ellicott City, MD — The American Sports Builders Association (ASBA), the national organization for builders and suppliers of materials for athletic facilities, recently held its Technical Meeting, from December 4-6 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
The meeting was attended by more than 430 industry members, a record for ASBA. The Technical Meeting is the largest gathering in the sports facility construction industry each year. (The next Technical Meeting, which will be held December 1-6, 2011, will take place at the J.W. Marriott Resort and Spa in Palm Desert, California).
During the course of the meeting, the Association offered intensive programming sessions, with seminars on tennis, track, sports fields, indoor athletic facilities and general knowledge. The American Sports Builders Association is an approved provider of continuing education programs to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) through its Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System (LACES). Many of the sessions offered at this meeting were applicable for these continuing education credits.
In addition to an outstanding attendance figure, 84 individuals were unique visitors, attending the meeting for the first time, or as new members of the ASBA. A record number of individuals — 24 — sat for the voluntary builder certification exam. A passing grade in this exam results in an individual being able to use the ASBA’s designation of Certified Tennis Court Builders, Certified Track Builders or Certified Field Builders.
In addition, a total of nine individuals were awarded the certification designations; these individuals have successfully completed the requirements for certification, and passed the exam in the past year:
Fred Volpacchio, CTCB of Hudson Design Build Group
Michael McGrath, CTCB of Talbot Tennis
Tod Lorenzen, CTB of Dalton Track & Tennis
Joseph Martin, CTB of Texas Sports Builders
Bryan Mitterling, CTB of ATT Sports, Inc.
Robert Delmonico, CTB of RAD Sports
Hector Puentes, CFB, CTB of Texas Sports Builders
John Schedler, CFB, CTB of Atlas Track & Tennis
David Quirk, CFB, Quirk Construction Corp.
ASBA’s awards of excellence were presented. The awards, which recognize excellence in facility construction, included Distinguished Tennis Courts (Indoor, Outdoor and Residential), Distinguished Running Tracks (Indoor and Outdoor) and Distinguished Sports Fields (Single Field and Multi-Field projects were recognized). (Information about these awards is available separately).
The ASBA also recognized outgoing board members, and honored new board members as well. New officers on the executive committee include David Nielsen of Leslie Coatings, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana, who will serve as the ASBA’s new secretary-treasurer. He previously served for four years as a builder director for the Association.
Randy Niese of Robbins Sports Surfaces, located in Cincinnati, Ohio was elected to the position of Indoor Division President.
ASBA also elected several new members of its board of directors. John Schedler, CFB, CTB of Atlas Track and Tennis in Tualatin, Oregon will serve as a representative of the Builder Division, as will Mike Edgerton, CTCB of Copeland Coatings, Nassau, New York.
Re-elected to the board of directors of ASBA were Track Division President Kristoff Eldridge, CTB (Cape & Island Tennis & Track in Pocasset, Massachusetts), and Professional Division President Ed Norton, RLA, ASLA (Holcombe Norton Partners, Inc., Birmingham, Alabama). Bruce Haroldson of Connor Sports Flooring in Arlington Heights, Illinois, was re-elected to serve as a board of directors representative of the Supplier Division.
Members of the board who retired from their positions following this meeting include Indoor Division President Robert Cohen, CTB of Robert Cohen Co. (Albuquerque, New Mexico), Builder board member Gerald Perry, CTCB (Gerald Perry Tennis Courts, Springfield, Missouri) and Secretary-Treasurer John Graham (DecoTurf, Andover, Massachusetts).
ASBA holds its next meeting of the year from Feb. 11-13 at Atlantis Resort in Paradise, Bahamas. The hotel will offer special discounted room rates to those who book directly and mention the ASBA Technical Meeting. Information is available by contacting the Association at its headquarters via phone, 866-501-ASBA (2722) or 410-730-9595, fax 410-730-8833, or by e-mail at [email protected].