Creating change through committees

By Emma Peterson.

Associations like ASBA create a space for companies and professionals to work together for the betterment of the whole industry.

All around the roofing and larger construction industries, you will find associations. These are crucial organizations that unify professionals behind a common goal — improve the standards of quality in their field. One of the common ways that these associations are able to work towards that goal is through the creation of committees that research and advocate for different needs in their field. In this CoatingsCast®, Karen Edwards sat down with Tom Magner to talk about California Sport Surfaces’ participation in the American Sport Builders Association (ASBA).

Tom is the director of project management at California Sports Surfaces, a division of the ICP Group that focuses on manufacturing acrylic coatings for athletic courts and spaces (think running tracks, pickleball courts and more). In addition to his work at California Sports Surfaces, Tom serves on ASBA’s website committee. He shared a bit of the type of work he has done in that role, saying, “I served on that committee for a number of years. And we would decide, among other things, what publications would ASBA advertise itself in to make itself available to the network of the contractors that weren't aware of them, but also to advertise the manuals that they might sell to architects and designers.”

And Tom isn’t the only one at California Sports Surfaces that volunteers their time with an ASBA committee. Paul Spongberg (who retired from California Sports Surfaces at the end of 2024) spent much of his time serving on ASBA’s asphalt committee. Tom explained a bit more about that committee, saying, “That committee is about 20 different people from different walks of life trying to analyze some of the challenges that have developed in asphalt production over the last generation or so.” An example of the work that they do are the position papers released to share information about the industry. Tom elaborated, “There's a position paper on, why does a court might have foam or why would cracks develop on court pinholes? Little things that you wouldn't even think of but need to be fleshed out.”

Read the transcript, Listen to the conversation or Watch the full episode for more about how California Sports Surfaces and ASBA support innovation and development in the athletic court sector.