Inspiring Playscape
Metro Sport ball courts
West Lothian
Russell Play’s Metro Sport ball courts were specified by West Lothian Council for 7 different schools in various locations
across West Lothian. The schools are based in Livingston, Bathgate, Whitburn , Armadale and Winchburgh.
West Lothian Council chose the Metro Sport multi use games area (MUGA) product as they liked a ball court
that Russell Play supplied in a nearby location that had been in place for many years.
Mr. Neil McIntyre of West Lothian Council said:
‘I was impressed with the fact that the ball court was unsupervised and open to regular, general use but
had stood the test of time with very little, if any, maintenance’.
The client wanted the new MUGA’s situated such that they could be used by anyone. They would have to be open
outwith school hours and should need the minimum of maintenance.
T +44 (0) 1590 675652 // E [email protected] // W www.russell-play.com
Inspiring Playscape
Metro Sport ball courts
West Lothian
The Metro Sport ball courts and goal ends are very durable products. The panels consist of fully welded box
sections and solid steel bars rather than welded mesh. The latter system often comes loose after a while. Posts
and tabs are heavy duty too and are fitted with the TabTek noise reduction system. All metal components are
metalwork hot dip galvanised and powder coated in a continuous process to protect the court against
rust. The result is an excellent structure and finish that allows Russell Play to offer a 30 year guarantee
against corrosion.
As well as durability and robustness Russell Play could also give West Lothian Council a modular system that they
could scale up or down where required and still maintain a standard of quality in the equipment. From the various
options West Lothian Council chose a colour scheme that is neutral to schools and football teams: they deliberately
chose the colours of the Scottish Football Association, blue and yellow.
West Lothian chose to standardise the ball courts for the various locations. This was useful to the client in terms of
budgeting for all the courts. Once the standard was established they would then have a good idea of how much it
would cost to have a similar ball court installed at another location.
There were other practical, curricular considerations in the ball courts being acquired. The requirement for children
to do at least 2 hours of Physical Education in a week meant that some of the internal gym halls in a lot of schools
were simply not big enough to cope. Having a larger, outdoor, purpose built space close by the school gave the
schools a capacity to meet with this requirement.
Russell Play could offer a great variety of surfacing options and advise on the best solution for any
situation. Line markings enabled kids to use the court for a variety of games including football,
basketball, netball, tennis, volleyball and badminton.
West Lothian Council, the schools and the children are very pleased with the result and soon you may see more
Metro Sport courts in West Lothian!
T +44 (0) 1590 675652 // E [email protected] // W www.russell-play.com