All You Need to Know About Multi Use Games Areas

MUGAs, or ‘Multi Use Games Areas’, are a type of sports surface which can be used to accommodate various different sports, such as hockey, 5-a-side football, netball, basketball, and tennis.

Multi Use Games Areas are particularly useful to schools and local sports community clubs since they are versatile, cost-effective, and, perhaps most importantly, they make very efficient use of the space available. The latter can be particularly beneficial to clients who have issues with space, such as schools, who often face the problem of having limited areas designated for sport.

There are 3 primary options when it comes to surface choices for MUGAs, with different surface types being more suited to different sports. These are as follows:

• Artificial Turf (More suited to hockey and 5-a-side football)
• Macadam (More suited to netball, basketball, and tennis)
• Polymeric (More suited to athletics training)

The first option, Artificial Turf, is typically a sand-dressed surface, but it can also be 3G-based. These are becoming increasingly popular choices within the market. Sand-dressed surfaces have a shorter and denser pile as a result of dressing the surface with sand rather than filling it. More advanced than the standard sand-filled turfs, these surfaces are well suited to hockey, lacrosse, and 5-a-side football. On the other hand, 3G turf is an artificial surface with a long pile, infilled with sand and rubber granules to make the pile stand up, making it more suited to large ball sports like football and rugby.

Macadam, or Tarmac, is a very durable surface which is good at responding to adverse weather conditions, meaning it can be played on year-round and with little maintenance. These surfaces are typically placed on playgrounds (making them particularly popular amongst primary schools) and can be coated with different colours to both improve the aesthetic and to place markings down for games. Markings can range from organised sports, such as netball and tennis, to everyday playground games such as hopscotch or snakes and ladders.

The final option, Polymeric surfaces, are good for sports where cushioning is required, such as athletics training – however they are still versatile, and can be used for sports such as netball, 5-a-side football, tennis, basketball, and even wheelchair sports. Their porous rubber crumb surface means that they, like tarmac, can be used in most weather conditions, with the added advantage of being less slippery than tarmac. They can also accommodate running spikes, making them even more suited to being used for athletics tracks.

So, not only are Multi Use Games Areas versatile, cost-effective, and space-efficient, but they can also be tailored to your needs, with custom size, colour, and sports markings options available to be implemented.