Athletic Field & Sports Facility Fencing

Governing-body and league specifications vary and frequently override general practice, so we build to the dimensions the athletic director, league or design drawings specify.

Framework

• Post size and wall. Sized from fence height, span, wind load and whether windscreen will be attached. Windscreen effectively turns a permeable fence into a sail, which doubles or triples the load the posts see.
• Post spacing. Tightened from standard spacing on tall backstops and on any run carrying screen or netting.
• Terminal, corner and transition posts. Heavier sections with deeper footings at every corner, gate and step-down in height.
• Footings. Depth and diameter engineered to the pole, height and soil; tall backstop and netting poles need real footing design, not a standard fence hole.
• Bracing. Horizontal and diagonal bracing on tall assemblies, with corner bracing where the fabric changes direction.

Fabric and top treatment

• Gauge. 9 gauge or heavier for athletic applications — 11 gauge residential fabric will not survive repeated ball impact. Detail on the chain link page.
• Top rail versus tension wire. Top rail gives a rigid, straight top line and a cleaner appearance, and is standard on backstops, courts and anywhere spectators lean on the fence. Tension wire costs less and is acceptable on long low outfield runs where nothing loads the top, but it will look wavy and it flexes under impact.
• Safety cap and top-of-fence treatment. Knuckled top selvage rather than twisted barbs on any fence a player or child can reach, plus a plastic or vinyl safety cap on outfield and dugout lines.
• Coating. Black or green polymer-coated fabric over galvanized reads far better on a field, reduces glare for players and outlasts galvanized alone in a wet Kentucky climate.

• Opacity and load. Higher opacity blocks more wind and more sightline, and transfers more force into the posts. Screen should be specified before the framework is sized, not added to an existing fence and hoped for.
• Attachment. Grommets at close intervals with ties or lacing, hemmed and reinforced edges, and attachment that fails before the fence does — screen is consumable, the fence is not.
• Seasonal removal. Screen taken down for winter lasts materially longer. Where a facility wants it up year-round, framework is sized for the worst-case wind event.
• Privacy and branding. Screen in school colors, with logos or lettering, at courts, dugouts and outfield lines.
• Netting and pole engineering. Backstop extension netting, foul-ball netting, barrier netting behind goals and batting cages are pole-and-cable structures carrying real wind and impact load. Pole size, embedment depth, footing design, cable sizing and tensioning are engineered for the span and exposure — a netting pole is a structural element and it is designed that way, coordinated with the project engineer where the drawings require sealed design.
• Wind loading. Netting and screen assemblies are the most wind-sensitive things on any athletic site, so exposure, height and span drive the design rather than the fence schedule.

• Player-access gates. Located out of the line of play, framed and swinging away from the field, with hardware that has no protrusion into the playing surface.
• Transition gates. At the dugout-to-field opening and at backstop-to-wing transitions, sized for a team moving through at once.
• Maintenance and equipment gates. Double gates wide enough for a mower, groomer, utility vehicle or truck — commonly 12 ft clear or wider. Undersizing this gate is a decision a facility regrets every single week.
• Safety padding. Padding on backstop and dugout posts, gate frames, rails and any fence element inside the field of play, plus top caps where a player can contact the top of the fabric at speed.
• Bleacher, dugout and spectator separation. Fencing between bleachers and the field, dugout enclosure and rail, and a defined spectator route so foot traffic never crosses the playing surface. Where bleachers sit above grade and fencing serves as a guard, guard height and loading requirements apply rather than fence standards.
• Bollards and vehicle control. Where a service drive or parking lot abuts a field, spectator area or concession stand, bollards keep vehicles out of it — see bollards, guardrail and impact protection.
• Powered gates. Any powered vehicle gate at a complex entrance complies with UL 325 and ASTM F2200 with entrapment protection tested — see gate operators and access control.

• Season-aware scheduling. Backstop, outfield and court work planned around the actual playing calendar, with long-lead items ordered early because a missed window costs a whole season.
• Occupied-site phasing. One field or court at a time, work areas closed with temporary fencing, and no open excavations left where players or kids can reach them.
• Turf and surface protection. Equipment routed and matted to protect turf, infield mix and court surfaces; court surfaces in particular do not forgive a tracked machine.
• School and district requirements. Vendor registration, COIs naming the district or municipality as additional insured, and any screening the district administers through its own process. Campus-wide detail is on the school and campus page.
• Public-bid work. Parks and school district projects bid on the agency’s forms with prevailing-wage and certified-payroll requirements handled — see the government and municipal page.
• Who you deal with. Shawn and Shelby Fick, owners since 2015, at 502-468-1209. Family-owned and woman-owned, BBB A+ accredited, Blue Book ProView Verified, general liability and Workers’ Compensation carried, 1-year workmanship warranty on our installations — credentials and completed projects.