The winners of the SAPCA Awards 2026 have been announced at a gala dinner held at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, in London.
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 more than 30 entries.
The SAPCA Awards 2026 winners are:
Large project:
Smith Construction: Expansion of Bluecoats Sports at Christ’s Hospital School
Small project
Blakedown Sport and Play: The iconic Brighton Beach Basketball Court
Sustainability award
Notts Sport: CocoTurf, the world’s first non-plastic artificial grass for play and sport
Product of the year
EnviroStik: Eco-Fix, the first adhesive of its type to be produced from end-of-life synthetic grass
Person of the year
Tony Aitchison: Commercial Director, Replay Maintenance
Young person of the year
Liam Wilson: Operations Director, SurfTech
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, said: “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.”
Full list of the SAPCA Awards 2026 winners and finalists
Small Sports or Play Project of the Year (under £350k)
Winner: Blakedown Sport and Play –
Renovation of the iconic Brighton Basketball Court
Finalist: Play Innovation – Creation of two community MUGAs in Westminster, London
Large Sports or Play Project of the Year (over £350k)
Winner: Smith Construction (Heckington) Ltd – Bluecoats Sports Expansion at Christ’s Hospital School, Horsham, Sussex
Finalists: S&C Slatter – The Arc community sports hub in Burgess Hill, Sussex
SAPCA Person of the Year
Winner: Tony Aitchison, Replay Maintenance
Finalist: Patrick Daly, Kingfisher Lighting
SAPCA Young Person of the Year
Winner: Liam Wilson, Surftech Surfaces
Finalist: Ewan McMullen, Chemique Adhesives
Sustainability Award
Winner: Notts Sport – CocoTurf, the world’s first non-plastic artificial grass for play and sport
Finalist: Mapei UK Ltd – Mapecoat TNS Race Track Zero, a coloured acrylic resin made entirely from natural, renewable and recyclable materials
Product of the Year
WInner: EnviroStik – Eco-Fix, an adhesive made using end-of-life synthetic grass carpets
Finalist: Jupiter Play & Leisure – BoxUp, a modular, solar-powered equipment locker system
