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I was sitting with Coach Lamb during the US v Neth game, and asked him if he loved the floor and wanted one. He said it is amazing but it would take a lot to get one. Hawaii is the only NCAA school that has such a floor. The biggest obstacle would actually be basketball. When basketball season and volleyball begin to overlap, there is a lot of putting up and tearing down of nets and baskets between the main floor and the practice gym. Which is a fairly long and tedious process itself. Throwing a huge floor into the equation and you are looking at having to pay the facilities people a lot of overtime. If any of you have stayed around after a Saturday night VBall match, many times you have seen the facilities people rolling out basketball goals for practice early the next morning or shoot arounds that night. It would be great to have the floor but I don't see it happening.
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Since the welcome mat was put out for me here.....Originally posted by shockersigep921
The photos referenced were of a Taraflex floor made by the French company Gerflor. That's pretty standard in international competition and that blue-green/orange color is the standard for high level international play. That's what was used at the Olympics. I heard the one at Hawai'i was from some international event was held there and later purchased by the athletic dept.
It does come in other colors and different models. One of the options is a wood-grain look. Here's a Taraflex floor at a local volleyball gym.
Taraflex is just a polymer carpet. I don't know if you could actually use those weighted stands that are currently used. It might not be able to handle the stress like hardwood. It really needs something underneath to directly support the posts. A hole is typically cut for the posts.
What might work for many is a Sport Court floor. I know of several programs that use them laid out over the underlying hardwood. UCLA has one in school colors. Pacific also has one which only only used for women's VB (their NCAA D-I men's team plays on their hardwood). I remember when Cal rented a Sport Court surface when using a backup gym for volleyball. Starting with the regionals up to the NCAA Tournament, the flooring is only Sport Court in that blue/gray color similar to the official ball.
I'm not sure what was used for that USA-NED match in Wichita. The posts looked to be standard steel Senoh posts, which require some sort of floor sleeve. I thought it was a raised platform which held the sleeves. I also don't know if that would meet NCAA hosting requirements that include an in-floor net system.Comment
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Good info, BearClause. I'm guessing that when they breakdown a Taraflex floor they would roll it up. Would that be accurate?
I'm not sure how they managed the net supports and we do not have the in-ground infrastructure, but whatever system the employed seemed more than solid enough. If that court and net system can stand up to the power and athleticism I saw on display with the USA Men's team it could easily handle NCAA women's VB.Comment
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Yeah - it's essentially just rolled up when done like a wrestling mat. I'm not sure how they secure it to the floor. Something like Sport Court wouldn't ride up like a rug. The following press release mentions a Taraflex floor that's rolled up and stored in the offseason:Originally posted by 1972Shocker
What might work is a secondary portable hardwood floor laid over the current floor. I remember theorizing that it might be possible to build it with floor sleeves and some sort of rigid anchoring system. I've never really heard of it done (hardwood over hardwood) but some big budget athletic programs have different sets of portable flooring that are sport specific - usually laid over a concrete floor. Florida has a specific volleyball hardwood floor that's used in the same gym where they play basketball. I suppose the runs into the same problem with the costs of assembly, disassembly, and storage. Florida's athletic dept is very profitable, so I guess they can afford it.Originally posted by 1972Shocker
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IF the Shocks attendance ever dropped to that level I honestly doubt the University could get the donors for such an undertaking, especially given the debt service leverage requirements for the foreseeable future. I believe that sale outs is more likely the norm into the foreseeable future. As for Creighton, I think this is a wonderful move for the university and the basketball & volleyball programs.
Go Valley!!
Go Shocks!!!!“Losers Average Losers.” ― Paul Tudor JonesComment
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