Holcim UK launch Pro Range sports sands
Highly permeable sands to keep sports facilities open and enhance year-round playability
HOLCIM UK have launched a Pro Range of sports sand and rootzones developed to offer exceptional drainage capabilities to keep facilities open throughout the year.
With many sports facilities struggling to open or host competitive fixtures or practice sessions during the wetter winter months, the Pro Range of sands has been developed with best-in-class permeability characteristics along with enhanced durability to aid sporting performance.
The Pro Range, which includes world-renowned specialist Levenseat and Garside sands from quarries at Fauldhouse in Scotland and Leighton Buzzard in England, respectively, are laboratory-tested sands that can be matched to different sporting applications and ground conditions.
Specialist sands have been developed for a range of sports, including football, golf, equestrian, and tennis, from golf bunker sand through to football pitch amelioration, top dressing, and specialist sand to encourage healthy root growth, such as Levenseat ProPitch Rootzone.
Official Met Office figures for 2024 suggest that the start of the year was one of the wettest since records began, leading to golf course and equestrian centre closures along with a significant impact on grassroots football due to cancelled fixtures.
Sports facility drainage is a key issue that the Pro Range is seeking to address with many of the sand products having market-leading saturated hydraulic conductivity rates that make them ideal for grassed areas with drainage issues. For example, both the ProPitch and ProGolf range have a high-performing percolation rate which will improve any area with drainage issues – in turn improving durability, playability, and player safety.
The range includes soil and sand blends, top-dressing sands such as ProPitch Top Dress that can also aid permeability, sands for artificial pitches and courts, such as the Garside ProCourt Terracotta, and sands that compact well under foot, such as ProArena that, with the correct choice of surface additive, provides a safe equestrian experience for both horse and rider.
The Pro Range sands are extensively sampled and tested through both internal and external laboratories to ensure high levels of consistency and performance are achieved. Many of the sands adhere to sport’s governing body standards, offering a five-year colour integrity warranty.
Holcim UK, recently rebranded from Aggregate Industries, can supply the Pro Range using their nationwide logistics network that promises contractors and grounds staff rapid delivery of the sand products needed for their facility or event.
According to Mark Hickingbottom, general manager of Garside Sands at Holcim UK, the Pro Range is not just for elite sports: ‘The Pro Range is aimed at those professional grounds staff who want to give their members, players, and users the ultimate performance-ready surface, either natural or synthetic, that combines both playability and durability,’ he said.
‘In recent years, often due to changing rainfall patterns resulting from climate change, sports facilities of all kinds have been forced to close temporarily, postpone fixtures, and deny their use to members, which has had an enormous impact on club finances and the health and well-being of players and participants.’
Duncan McCool, sales manager for Levenseat Sands at Holcim UK, added: ‘The Pro Range with its market-leading percolation rate, improved aeration, and stable surface, aims to help keep facilities open by providing outstanding surfaces that can withstand the changing seasons and be performance-ready throughout the year.’
