2026 SAPCA AWARDS

SportsNation takes in in-depth look at this year’s winners of the prestigious SAPCA Awards

The winners of the SAPCA Awards 2026 were announced at a gala dinner held at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, in London in February. Now in their 11th year, the awards celebrate the achievements of members of the Sports and Play Construction Association (SAPCA).

In all, there were six category winners, picked from a huge number of entries.

LARGE PROJECT Winner – Smith Construction : Expansion of Bluecoats Sports at Christ’s Hospital School Finalist – S&C Slatter (The Arc community sports hub in Burgess Hill, Sussex)

SMALL PROJECT Winner – Blakedown Sport and Play : The iconic Brighton Beach Basketball Court Finalist – Play Innovation (Creation of two community MUGAs in Westminster, London)

SUSTAINABILITY AWARD

Winner – Notts Sport : CocoTurf, the world’s first non-plastic artificial grass for play and sport Finalist – Mapei UK (Mapecoat TNS Race Track Zero, a resin made entirely from natural, renewable materials)

PRODUCT OF THE YEAR

Winner – EnviroStik : Eco-Fix, the first adhesive of its type to be produced from end-of-life synthetic grass Finalist – Jupiter Play & Leisure (BoxUp, a modular, solar-powered equipment locker system)

PERSON OF THE YEAR Winner – Tony Aitchison : Commercial Director, Replay Maintenance Finalist – Patrick Daly: Kingfisher Lighting

YOUNG PERSON OF THE YEAR

Winner – Liam Wilson : Operations Director, SurfTech Finalist – Ewan McMullen: Chemique Adhesives

The strong field of entries again highlighted not only the quality and technical excellence of our members’ work, but their innovation too

The winners were chosen by a judging panel which featured a number of industry leaders, alongside SAPCA’s Technical Lead, Colin Corline, and members of the SAPCA board.

Colin Corline, SAPCA Technical Lead, added: “The six winners should be very proud of their achievements, as they have come on top in a very strong field. In both project categories, we received a number of entries which highlighted the amazing impact that the facilities created by SAPCA members make in communities across the UK. I want to thank all member companies that submitted entries and huge congratulations again to the winners.”

SAPCA Chief Executive, Richard Shaw, added: “Once again, choosing the winners was a difficult task and I want to thank all those who submitted entries for the SAPCA Awards 2026. The submissions we received showed a wide range of excellent projects and products. The strong field of entries again highlighted not only the quality and technical excellence of our members’ work, but their innovation too. Huge congratulations to all the winners and finalists.”

2026 SAPCA AWARDS THE WINNERS IN SPOTLIGHT

Large Project of the Year

Smith Construction

Expansion of Bluecoats Sports at Christ’s Hospital School The £8 million project includes four panoramic Padel courts, a 400m six-lane athletics track with full field facilities, and the UK’s first “Get Active” outdoor exercise adventure trail, an imaginative and pioneering concept that promotes participation across all ages and abilities. Every aspect of the design has been delivered to the highest standard, creating spaces that balance professional performance with accessibility, enjoyment, and social engagement.

The Bluecoats Sports expansion at Christ’s Hospital School is a flagship example of innovation, sustainability, and community impact in modern sports facility design. This transformative development has created a vibrant multi-sport hub that celebrates inclusivity, environmental responsibility, and active living. A genuine benchmark for excellence and a great example of what winning a SAPCA Award requires.

Small project of the Year

Blakedown Sport and Play

Brighton Basketball court renovation

Brighton & Hove City Council, in partnership with the Hoopsfix Foundation, appointed Blakedown Sport & Play to refurbish the iconic Brighton Beach Basketball Court – one of the most recognisable outdoor basketball spaces in the UK. The £60,000 project included the expansion of the court footprint by 4m in length and 2m in width, removal of the existing surface, installation of a new high- performance sports surface designed for harsh coastal conditions (UV, salt exposure and wind), full FIBA- compliant setting out, and new competition-standard acrylic backboards, flex rims, posts and safety padding.

The project demonstrates how a relatively small- scale refurbishment can deliver exceptional technical quality, strong partnership working, cultural importance and national impact. The refurbishment of Brighton Beach Basketball Court has delivered strong social value by revitalising a free, highly accessible public sports facility in a prominent coastal location, ensuring long-term benefit for both residents and visitors.

Sustainability award

Notts Sport

CocoTurf

CocoTurf is the world’s first non-plastic artificial grass for play and sport, made entirely from natural, renewable, and recyclable materials. Using fibres derived from coconut husks bonded with natural rubber latex, CocoTurf replaces petrochemical plastics and eliminates microplastic pollution.

Every square metre reuses fibres from ten coconuts, transforming agricultural waste into durable play surfacing. Independent laboratory testing verifies its outstanding safety and performance. CocoTurf also has proven resilience, providing a sustainable, child friendly, high-performance alternative to synthetic grass – ideal for schools, playgrounds, and community sports facilities. CocoTurf showcases how performance and sustainability can coexist.

Product of the year

EnviroStik

Eco-Fix

Eco-Fix is the first adhesive of its type on the market to be produced from end-of-life synthetic grass carpets, making it a more environmentally- friendly choice, but one which also gives a performance benefit. Its innovative recycled content formula meets or exceeds all standards of governing bodies, such as FIFA.

The nature of the product is revolutionary, since it converts synthetic grass into a high-performance adhesive that helps reduce waste and meets green targets, while proving that performance and environmental responsibility can go together.

EnviroStik estimates that, based on the average-sized football pitch, Eco-Fix eliminates a minimum of 5 million microplastic particles from polluting ecosystems. It is suitable for all synthetic grass sport surfaces, while Eco-Fix Leisure is designed for landscaping applications.

Person of the year

A respected sports turf sector veteran, Tony is an experienced leader with a wide range of skills across sports construction, contract management and business strategy. He has spent the past nine years at Replay, being a crucial part of the company’s growth. Prior to Replay, Tony became an influential member of the Charles Lawrence Surfaces team, first joining the company in 1994. Tony consistently promotes the benefits of SAPCA and has worked on a number of SAPCA working groups and is a consistent attendee at all SAPCA events.

Young person of the year

Liam Wilson, Operations Director, SurfTech

Liam joined Surftech in 2019 when it obtained its first manufacturing unit in Stanton, Bury St Edmunds. At the time, Surftech supplied around 200,000sq m of surfacing products into the sport and leisure market. In his six years at Surftech, Liam has overseen the growth in production and operations helping the company to the point where it now supplies more than 1 million sq m of product per year.

In 2024, Liam succeeded in creating the systems required for application for ISO 9001 certification – an incredible achievement as he had no previous experience with ISO 9001. In 2024, his hard work and dedication was rewarded when he was made operations director at the age of 27.