Did your company contribute to the design or construction of an outstanding facility recently? Maybe the whole athletic industry should know about it. ASBA opened its awards program as of March 1, and is now accepting applications.

Awards are presented in various categories: Tennis Courts, Sports Fields, Running Tracks and Indoor Multi-Purpose Facilities. Within each category there are subdivisions:

• The Tennis Courts category recognizes Residential Courts, Outdoor Courts and Indoor Courts.

• The Track category recognizes Outdoor Tracks and Indoor Tracks

• The Fields category recognizes Single Field facilities, and Multiple Field facilities

• Indoor facilities are recognized in the Indoor Multi-Purpose Facility category

• In addition, there are honors in the 'Green' competition, for the athletic facility (in any category above) that has used the most eco-friendly design, construction and operating techniques

All types of facilities are eligible; in previous years, awards have gone to facilities in clubs, at parks departments, at schools and more. (ASBA accepts applications from facilities built with a wide variety of surfaces; for example, tennis courts may be hard or soft, surfaces for fields may be natural or synthetic turf, etc.)

To be eligible for entry into the awards program, a facility must have been designed by, or built by, an ASBA member company. The ASBA member who designed or built the facility must be the one to enter it in the awards program. (If you are a supplier member of ASBA, and have contributed to an outstanding project, but the designer or contractor is not a member, this is an excellent opportunity to encourage that company to join ASBA. Membership application materials and information are available on ASBA's website, www.sportsbuilders.org.

Also in order to be eligible for this round of awards, projects submitted must have been completed within the current year or within the previous two calendar years (ending Dec. 31). The deadline for entry is June 1, 2011.

The judging of awards entries is done by a panel of ASBA members. Projects are scored individually based on considerations such as layout and design, site work, drainage, base construction, surface, amenities, innovation and overall impression. Winning entries are those whose cumulative scores meet or exceed the standard.

Presentation of award plaques is made at the Technical Meeting, to take place next December in Palm Desert, California. Winning facilities receive a plaque and are recognized in association's announcements and in articles written in various industry magazines. Member companies who contributed to winning projects are honored as well.

In addition, award winners are listed in ASBA's promotional awards brochure, distributed throughout the year at trade shows, to prospective members, and to those who call the Association seeking information about member companies and their work. ASBA member companies whose projects win awards are further urged to publicize the award to their local newspapers and others.

To obtain more information about the awards program, go to www.sportsbuilders.org, and from the toolbar at the top of the page, select "About Us" and then, using the drop-down menu, choose "Awards."