A step ahead

CINCINNATI — You’re probably wondering what I’m doing in this conservative, laid-back, and beautiful Ohio city where the main offices of such large multinationals as Procter & Gamble and General Electric are located.

The day after the World Basketball Championships ended in Indianapolis, Robbins Sports Surfaces international sales manager Jairo Vargas offered to drive us here to find out for ourselves why 18 of 29 National Basketball Association (NBA) teams prefer to play only on the company’s state-of-the-art maple All-Star courts.

Riding in Vargas’ Honda Accord was a breeze. It didn’t seem like a two-hour trip. Before Vic Eugenio of Universal Sports and I knew it, we were at the front door of Robbins’ head office on Eastern Avenue–only about 15 minutes away by car from the heart of downtown–to meet president Jay Stoehr and executive vice president Dan Benton.

"Our main focus is the athlete, the player who competes on our floor," said Vargas, a 34-year-old Colombian who earned his Master’s degree in business administration at Xavier University in Ohio. "We’re about safety and comfort. We manufacture playing surfaces that are resilient, durable, and absorb a lot of the impact when a player jumps or runs on the court. Our engineers make sure there is not a single dead spot on our floor. The ball bounce is even everywhere."

Vargas took us to Robbins’ testing area where different surfaces of various maple grades are laid out. Several balls were on the floor for visitors to test their bounce off the wood. There was also a basketball goal to test the rebound off the rim. Several banners hung from the ceiling–they were flags of NBA and NCAA Division I teams that swear by Robbins. My eyes opened wide as I spotted the colors of Duke, Michigan State, Kentucky, Louisiana State, Stanford, Notre Dame, Illinois, Ohio State, Michigan, Iowa, Penn State, Texas, Miami, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Florida, among others. The NBA clubs whose banners were unfurled included the Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, Portland Trail Blazers, New Jersey Nets, Orlando Magic, Sacramento Kings, Chicago Bulls, and Milwaukee Bucks.

Robbins has been in the flooring business since 1922. Five years ago, the company sold its residential line and concentrated on sports. Today, it has manufacturing facilities in Lake View, Wisconsin, and Ishpeming, Michigan. Robbins also maintains a pair of finishing plants here.

Over 200 officers and staff are employed by Robbins which takes pride in its Institute, a learning center specializing in education on sports floors. The Institute is an integral part of Robbins’ research, development and testing. Athletic directors, players, coaches, architects, and engineers are welcome to attend an Institute seminar where they are taught to evaluate sports flooring in terms of comfort, safety and performance of athletes.

Robbins harvests maple hardwood from northern America. Vargas said reforestation is a primary concern and Robbins plants two to three trees for every one it logs. The facility in Wisconsin standardizes the wood which comes in different sizes and grades by producing what is called "continuous strips" or 7-foot slabs that are connected by intricate finger joints. Another plant in Michigan manufactures the Robbins portable floors which are popular among NBA teams.

Vargas explained that under each maple panel are conical rubber shock absorbers and sleepers which provide cushion for the exterior hardwood. The cone-shaped absorbers soften the impact from a landing and disperse it sideways rather than bounce back the energy upward to the player. About 45 percent of the impact is absorbed by the surface, relieving the player of that much strain. No other flooring can boast this feature, boasted Vargas.

At a Robbins finishing plant, we spoke to Dave Klette who’s worked for the company the last 33 years. He was busy applying the finishing touches of a new floor for the Orlando Magic. The floor features the "zipper system" of removing a court from the midline–cutting by half the man hours used in folding up. It usually takes 10 hours and 10 persons to install and five hours and 10 people to remove a portable. With the "zipper system," it takes five hours and 20 persons to install and less than three hours and 20 people to remove a court.

Klette said about 11 gallons of special paint are applied on a surface for the outer edges and logs. Each wooden panel weighs 190 pounds and a court is laid out on 225 panels. A 45-foot flatbed will be used to transport the Magic floor from here to Orlando. It takes about two weeks to assemble a court from scratch.

Klette, 55, was in Manila with another Robbins employee Kenny Hopsner to supervise the installation of the Robbins floor at the Araneta Coliseum in 1999. Klette has been to Poland, Mexico, Canada, Italy, and Japan to supervise other Robbins installations. In 1995, he traveled with Magic Johnson and his All-Star team to Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya for a series of games against the Japanese national basketball team. Klette brought along a crew that installed and removed a Robbins floor for each game that Johnson played. Johnson insisted on a Robbins surface throughout the series and made it a condition for the organizers.

Klette said he often inspects the Robbins floors in NBA arenas. The most impressive stadium he’s visited is the Staples Center where the Lakers play. He said he also likes Madison Square Garden, home of the New York Knicks.

Eugenio, who represents Robbins as an exclusive distributor in the Philippines, said quality sets the court apart from the others. "We don’t scrimp on materials just to lower our cost," he stressed. "We do not compromise on quality. Other floors warp after two years and cause a lot of long-term damage to players’ knees, ankles and joints. Robbins may be a little more expensive than others but in the long run, the investment will pay off."

Vargas said Robbins considers the humidity levels of a country before shipping its wooden panels to avoid expansion. That’s why, he added, countries like the Philippines, Taiwan, and the Caribbean are provided 1 1Ú2 inch wide maple strips to increase the life of the floor by at least 10 more years and allow the product to naturally absorb the elements of the environment.

In the Philippines, Eugenio said he has installed over 15 Robbins floors in such showcase venues as the Big Dome, the PhilSports Arena, the Ynares Center and the Makati Coliseum. More and more university gyms are locking in on Robbins because of its long-term value, continued Eugenio.

"It’s all about being always a step ahead," smiled Vargas.