Brock International Creates Safety MVP Contest to Promote the Importance of Playing Field Safety

Source: Brock International

Boulder, Colorado - (January 22, 2013) - Brock International has launched its Safety MVP Contest to recognize U.S. schools that value safety as much as having a winning team. The school with the most compelling entry will win the Grand Prize of $5,000 worth of sports equipment. Brock, an active voice in concussion prevention and education, recently launched Brock PowerBase Youth Safety Research (YSR), the first synthetic turf safety and drainage layer engineered specifically for young athletes.

"With the escalating number of concussions and brain injuries nationwide, we wanted to recognize schools that place a high value on keeping their student-athletes safe," said Dan Sawyer, CEO of Brock International. "Our team hopes this contest will bring more attention to the proactive efforts being taken by coaches, schools, parents and America's youth to reduce the quantity and severity of injuries on the playing field."

The Brock Safety MVP Contest is open to middle school and high school students in the United States that can demonstrate why safety is as important as winning to their team using video submissions of no longer than five minutes in length. Students must create the video from concept to completion, and coaches, faculty, staff, athletes and their families are encouraged to participate. Entries must be received by April 1, 2013. To learn more, visit www.saferyouthsports.org.

Head-to-surface injuries are one of the four major impact areas in which athletes experience brain injuries. Brock PowerBase YSR is the only product of its kind scaled to the ideal footing requirements and safety of high school and middle school athletes. The company's PowerBase technology, used underneath more than 25 million square feet of synthetic turf fields worldwide, has been proven to decrease G-max, which may reduce the risk and severity of concussions, and injuries to hips, elbows and knees caused by high body to surface impact.

Research firm BioMechanica, LLC studied the estimated risk of head injury on synthetic turf surfaces with Brock underlayment and found the product reduces G-max, the peak force of impact, which the lab tests indicated should reduce the risk and severity of concussion; provides the same G-Max and playability as a pristine natural grass field and mitigates field hardening over time. In evaluating Head Injury Criteria (HIC), also known as critical fall height, Sports Labs LLC found that Brock PowerBase offered significant improvement in HIC when compared to a turf field that featured a stone base.

About Brock International Brock International is the leader in performance base systems for synthetic turf. With over 25 million square feet of Brock Performance Base in play underneath athletic fields worldwide, the company engineers the best, safest and most sustainable playing surfaces in the world for athletes at all levels. Brock is an Official Education Partner of The Sports Legacy Institute, a Boston-based non-profit organization founded to advance the study, treatment, and prevention of brain trauma in athletes and other at-risk groups. In October 2011, Brock became the first company in the industry to have a Cradle to Cradle Certification CM for its combined drainage and shock pad product. Offering the only product in the market that can be closed loop recycled, Brock PowerBase is certified to the world's most stringent environmental standards. Visit www.brock-international.com to learn more.