TCU Volleyball Gym Gets Frog-Skin Face Lift on Robbins Floor

The TCU Horned Frogs called on Robbins dealer, Ponder Company, to freshen up their 14-year-old Robbins Air Channel Star with a new court design for the women’s competition volleyball gym. The floor, which is the located in the University Recreation Center, had been well maintained over the years and was in perfect condition for a face lift.

The new court graphics were originally designed by Nike in 2015, and was unveiled after the 72M dollar renovation of the Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena was complete. While Robbins and Ponder Company was not chosen as a vendor for the Schollmaier Arena floor, TCU chose Ponder to sand and refinish the volleyball gym floor with the new court design. The new Horned Frogs design features a unique purple, white, and black lizard-skin pattern that covers the entire area of the game play surface, as well as a red accent color for the court lines. While the color Red is not part of the school’s official colors, it was used as an accent color on the helmets of the football team several years prior and represents the horned frog (aka the horned lizard) distinct ability to shoot blood from its eyes to fend off predators.

Painting and staining a floor with this much detail is no easy task, but Ponder was up for the challenge. They called on Praters Flooring to provide the masks and work closely with the Ponder crew during the training of the application. The court had a total of 22 mask templets and due to the amount of detail, took 2 full weeks to complete.

Since the completion of the refinish in the volleyball gym, this unique floor was featured in the June/July 2016 edition of Hardwood Floors Magazine, and has also been chosen as a finalist in
Robbins 2016 Sports Surface of the Year contest. TCU was also so pleased with the results of Ponders graphic work, they have since been contracted for additional face lifts on the practice basketball court, the new arena floor, and the 3 court gymnasium at the recreation center. All work will be completed in summer 2017.

About Robbins Sports Surfaces

Robbins Sports Surfaces, a division of Robbins, Inc., is a privately held, 4th generation family-owned flooring company based in Cincinnati, OH with sales offices across the U.S. and manufacturing plants in Michigan and Wisconsin.

The NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers play on a Robbins Sports Surfaces “All Star” brand floor at their home court, Quicken Loans Arena, and practice on more than 18,000 sq. ft. of the company’s “Bio-Channel Classic” flooring, one of the top floor choices among NBA franchises. The Cavs have played home games on Robbins floors since 1974.

More NBA teams compete and train on Robbins flooring than all other competitors combined, with 90% of NBA teams owning the company’s competition and/or training facility floors. Past NCAA men’s basketball champions Connecticut, Duke, Kentucky, Indiana and North Carolina play their home games on a Robbins floor.

Robbins Inc. has registered 25 patents over the years, with additional patents pending, and is the only U.S. flooring manufacturer with a full-time research and product development staff. Robbins’ unique capability and understanding of the biomechanical interaction between the athlete or performer and floor have recently led to new designs that reduce vibration and increase uniformity, both of which improve performance, comfort and safety.

In addition to Robbins Sports Surfaces, Robbins, Inc. is also the owner of Stoehr Flooring, a high-end residential flooring business, and majority owner of Egis Floorlife, an innovative after-market service business. Robbins also has a theater and dance floor division known as Robbins Performing Arts, which is dedicated to the development of performing arts floor systems that enhance the safety and comfort of performers.

For more information about each of Robbins divisions, please visit www.robbinsdancefloors.com, www.stoehrflooring.com, and www.egisfloorlife.com.