Windscreen A Creative Avenue for Facility Branding

Providing protection, security, and a unique opportunity for branding, sports field fencing, windscreens and netting are now considered an essential for ballfields, batting cages, tennis courts, golf driving ranges and sports complexes all over the country. Available in a myriad of hues to compliment a team’s colors, the intricate design and installation along with the numerous material options give athletic directors, sports field managers, and recreational property managers the resources needed to keep the sport safe and fun. This special section keeps you in the loop of what’s new and how it’s being used.

Lake Nona High School Athletic Director Aaron Crawford, CAA, has found the perfect solution for branding his high profile Florida facility. Using a creative combination of windscreen, banners, and graphics he has promoted his school’s teams, logo, and spirit throughout the campus in a way that reaches into his community.

“We set out to upgrade our facility with some very specific goals in mind,” Crawford said. “When updating our football stadium we went with pre-fabricated aluminum bleachers because custom bleachers weren’t a smart use of our funds. Then we strategically employed high quality windscreen and graphics to gain a custom look for our field while accomplishing our need for security and to fulfill our desire to standardize our image through consistent branding.”

Crawford had inherited inferior windscreen products that demonstrated the importance of doing things right the first time. After six months the colors had faded and the windscreen looked tattered.

“Because we were extremely committed to our branding concept,” Crawford explained, “having our true school colors was important. I knew I had to find a company that offered quality products I could trust. I didn’t want to have to replace all our work in another six months. I did some research and found Ball Fabrics, Inc., right here in my home state. I’m a difficult guy to please. I have high expectations. I knew what I wanted. But everyone from Ball Fabrics more than met my expectations. They understood my vision and showed me how I could accomplish our goals.”

Crawford removed all the inferior, faded windscreen and replaced it with a calculated mixture of PrivaScreen where he needed more complete visual blockage, and ExtremeScreen where he needed enhanced durability and wind resistance. He commissioned a 552’ fence mural for the back of the stadium, which is a point of first contact for visitors.

“Successful branding is the right mixture of several elements,” Crawford added. “With the exception of people actually attending a school event, most people in our community experience our athletic complex while driving by. We wanted to make a statement that would impact the entire community, so we unified our entire campus using graphics and windscreen. The colors and messages were carried over into our uniforms to build that consistent brand identity.”

Over a four-year period Crawford implemented his plan one field at a time, one fence at a time, checking off one goal after another. Working closely with Ball Fabrics, he first completed the football stadium upgrade. Making use of Ball Fabrics’ professional graphics department, Crawford learned that he could depend on the company’s UV