How is it that in about ten years time, Tover has made itself indispensable in this world of sports? This question and many more we put to Marie-Claude Conversy, Export Manager at this company based in Collegno, near Turin.

“Our first entrance in the world of sports with our finishing products was the result of a request for help by one of our Italian customers. This company is specialized in the installation of wooden floors for sports”, Marie-Claude explains. “Most of the time, this company installed prefinished floors, which means that the wood has been lacquered already in the manufacturer’s plant and that they had no idea of the type of lacquer that was used. Once the floor was installed, they had to trace the playing lines and areas for basketball courts, handball courts or other with a coloured paint and then protect the surface with a lacquer.”

Issues with paint and lacquer
According to our interlocutor, one thing led to another. For Tover’s customer had a very big issue with the paints and lacquers that were applied. Unfortunately, they tended to peel.
“The problem lay witt the adhesion between the existing lacquer and the ones applied on site. This adhesion was very poor”, we hear. “So we were asked for a solution. For this specific use we formulated a primer: Sportfloor Grip. This is a 2K water-based primer which can be applied directly on top of the existing finishing. Once dry, it creates an excellent grip for paints and lacquers. Obviously we widened our range with the paints themselves in all RAL scale colours and two water-based lacquers. We added a primer for raw wood and renovation and cleaning products.”

Certification is a big issue
As we all know, when you enter a world such as that of sports, certification is a big issue. Tover immediately grasped this and reacted very fast: “The second step was indeed to get the certificates to enter the market. The standard to be considered for lacquers is EN 14904. Here, the requirements tackle the brightness of the floor, which must be matt, the resistance to wear and a certain level of antislip. Our products passed all of the tests and can be used for multipurpose gyms as well as for basketball courts. Over the past years, we had quite some success with many jobs all around the world.”

So, the tone was set. It was of course immediately clear Tover should not leave it with this one shot, but had rather explore this market to the fullest.
“Indeed”, says Mrs. Conversy, “we realized that if we wanted to really expand our sales, we had to enable our partners to be included in big tenders for sports halls. And many times what is required when you participate in these tenders is the FIBA certification. That is why we decided to apply for it with two lacquers and a maintenance product. Our Sportsfloor Finish and Sportsfloor Skate passed the tests and also our Sportsfloor Refresh, which is a protective maintenance product to maintain the floor. We were delighted to note that our customers reacted in an extremely positive way to the obtaining of the FIBA certification.”

“To give you some more specification about these products: our Sportsfloor Skate obtained a plus regarding to other products on the market, as it is not only extremely strong (red: can be used for roller stake tracks), but the lacquer is at the same time fire-retardant. It concurs completely with the EN 13501-1 European standard, with a fire resistance class: Cfl-s1 on any wood species. The latter means it can be used, for example, in emergency exists.”

About maintenance
Another important aspect of sports floors is that you don’t want to see skid marks. Tover’s lacquers can handle these perfectly, we are told. On top of that, there is also the maintenance issue.
“Regarding maintenance, we have four products to wash the floors, remove the black marks of shoes and even glue that is used by the players (red: handball players apply a kind of glue to their hands for a better grip) during games. Our Remover was used in some very demanding instances, a very good example for this is how it cleaned the black marks of the wheels of the wheelchairs during the Para Olympics games in London 2012.”

These days, in any undertaking environmental issues are top of mind. Tover knows this all too well and can be seen as an example for other players in the sector of finishing products.
“Our products not only comply with the European standards, but also have the A+ certification according to the ISO 16.000 norm about air quality”, says Marie-Claude Conversy. “They are moreover all waterbased, with a low VOC content.”

When looking at the range of products for sports facilities that have been developed, we see that this is very extensive: “Our range of products for sports facilities also includes adhesives to bond synthetic grass, rubber, vinyl floors indoor and outdoor. When talking about synthetic grass, our Tovcol PU 2K Green – 2 part polyurethane glue passed the tests to comply with the FIFA and World Rugby Federation requirements, the EN12228:2013 standard. This is another important step to give confidence and support to our customers. Our Tovcol T91 is an epoxy 2K glue suitable to install both inside and outside other materials like rubber or vinyl coverings for padel courts or athletic tracks. It is available in different colours.”

International expansion
Our final question is if there is a limit to Tover’s ambition?
“As you can see, we have the right products and systems to compete on international markets”, Mrs. Conversy concludes. “Exemplifying this are several good references with very prestigious jobs done in Saudi Arabia, Canada and Italy. If people want to know more about how we can help them, they can also take a look at our dedicated website: sport.tover.com. There, it will also become clear that if a customer follows us, he or she can play hard!”