Brock USA was welcomed into the family of partners for the US Soccer Foundation’s Safe Places to Play Program last week. With the involvement of Brock and AstroTurf, the national program will provide grants three times a year to under-served communities to transform unused, and sometimes unsafe, spaces into state-of-the-art soccer fields for kids.
“Brock and AstroTurf have collaborated on artificial turf projects that range from parks to collegiate level athletics all over the country. We were thrilled to join this dynamic team and execute our collective vision of better sports fields. We put all our financial resources into education, research, and support for the industry. The US Soccer Foundation is a wonderful way for us to give back to the community in a real, tangible way,” says Dan Sawyer, CEO of Brock USA, the nation’s leading supplier of shock pads for artificial turf.
Children in under-served communities don’t have the same access to the kinds of safe, enticing recreational facilities that are found in abundance in affluent communities. They often lack adequate playgrounds and few, if any, well-maintained fields. In fact, children who live in under-served areas are more than four times as likely to lack recreation facilities. The US Soccer Foundation not only provides high quality soccer fields through this program, but also gives kids consistent mentors to help guide them in making healthier choices – from the food they eat to staying active through exercise and sports.
With safety being the priority, it was an important addition bringing Brock USA onboard. Brock manufactures a highly-engineered shock pad specialized for youth sports that will go under the artificial turf soccer fields to help reduce the risk of concussions and low leg injuries. Brock believes in and conducts stringent testing and research on athletic fields to ensure their pad’s results compare to a pristine natural grass field in terms of safety and playability.
“Brock has been an industry leader in athlete safety for over a decade so it is a natural fit for us to support the US Soccer Foundation’s initiative as it relates to artificial turf. Soccer is a sport that relies on the performance of the field, and that is our specialty,” says Sawyer.
“We welcome Brock International as a national partner for our Safe Places to Play program,” said Ed Foster-Simeon, President and CEO of the U.S. Soccer Foundation. “Brock strives to create safe playing spaces for children and we look forward to working together to give children safe environments where they can play soccer.”
