The early predictions of the 1950’s & 1960’s that by the new millennia automation would provide us all with a drastically reduced work week & an increased opportunity to pursue recreation in the broadest sense, have not come to pass.

However, over the last decade an increased population that is generally more health conscious has put significant demand on communities to provide more facilities for recreation and more importantly the level of sophistication demanded of these facilities is much greater. Fortunately the last decade has seen light source efficiencies increase to a level that has offset the demand for power that would have been associated with the higher illuminance levels that are typically associated with today’s facilities.

There are several other factors that have come into play that cannot be ignored. The line between the professional athlete and the amateur has become blurred and frequently facilities are used for both levels of play. It is not unusual to see Professional Athletes using the community arena or sports field as a practice venue, nor is unusual to see the community facilities become host to major exhibitions or tournaments. In an attempt to minimize the financial burden on communities and ensure that the maximum return on their investment is met there is a trend towards the larger multi-function "Athletic Complex" that can accommodate both a variety of sports, various levels of play and serve the community at large as a focal point for entertainment & community living.

The demands put on these facilities give rise to several issues that must be dealt with;

These are just a few of the challenges associated with Sports Lighting in the modern urban setting. Traditionally the practice had been to use a "sports flood" which typically had the lamp mounted axially in relation to a parabolic reflector. It was for its day reasonably efficient and cost effective, however this approach does not meet the needs of today’s community, as it does not adequately control spill onto adjacent property. In an attempt to provide some relief from the problem the practice had been to use external visors. The problems associated with visors however are the additional wind loading placed on the fixture and support structures, reduced efficiencies requiring additional fixtures, increased dirt depreciation factors caused by accumulation on the visor and no less important are the difficulties caused by poor re-directional control of the beam.

Hubbell Lighting has developed introduced a product that meets the needs of today’s Sports Complex.

The optical assembly has been design to accommodate standard lamps that are mounted horizontally and incorporates an internal multi faceted louver. The louver provides vertical arc tube cutoff at 13° and horizontal arc tube cutoff at 35°. In this fashion the light that would normally be associated with spill & glare is redirected into the beam and onto the target.

The efficiency of this design is such that the losses that would normally be associated with the use of a louver are offset by the design of the reflector and the fact that regardless on the aiming angle of the fixture the lamp is maintained in the horizontal position eliminating the lumen loss associated with tilt factor.The result is a product that controls the beam without any additional EPA (Wind) loading while maintaining efficiency.

In the event that the site is situated such that is set back far enough that a non louvered optic can be used the removal of the louver would increase the efficiencies to the point that 15% to 18% fewer fixtures would be required.  Fewer luminaries mean lower pole costs, lower installation costs & lower owning & operating costs.

We have also come a long way in the development of the sports lighting package.  Traditionally and integral ballasted fixture was field installed and aimed onto a pole that was frequently sourced elsewhere.  Hubbell SLS Sportsliter Solutions now offers a truly integrated system that has it all: field design, fixtures, ballasts, wiring harness, lamps, poles & if needed even the contractor for quick & easy installation.

The assembly of the SLS Solutions system is remarkably simple and the reduced labour makes it a very attractive option. There is also the added confidence that other than ensuring that the pole is set correctly in the proper location the margin of difficulty and error is eliminated.

The following shots taken of an actual installation illustrate the ease of assembly.

	(1) attach optics to factory aimed croassarm socket necks (labelled for ease of installation)
(2) insert factory built wiring harness into pole and attach crossarm assembly to pole top mounting plate
	(3) slip factory labeled pole sections together using a come-along
(4) plug in factory wired harness to ballast enclosure	(5) install factory wired ballast enclosure
	(6) install direct embedded steel or anchor bolt foundation

The simplicity of this type of installation belies its degree of sophistication. The SLS Solutions package provides an accurate cost effective lighting system be it for the community field or professional sports facility. It also provides smaller communities the opportunity to avail themselves of a lighting system that can be assembled easily by local contractors that may not have had the opportunity to work of this type of installation before and still be assured of the accuracy that would be expected at any level of play.