Five Main Reasons Your School Needs a Multi-Use Games Area

A multi use games area (MUGA) is a popular sports facility often found in parks and schools, which provides a variety of different markings and equipment in one area, making it possible to play a number of different sports. They are perfect for spots with smaller recreational space and are suitable for children of all ages.

MUGAs come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but the two main types are composed of either artificial grass or hardcourt. Hardcourt MUGAs usually have built-in football goals and basketball hoops, and are surrounded by metal fencing to keep the ball in the arena. MUGAs composed of artificial grass, however, tend to be much larger and lend themselves to sports such as tennis, hockey, netball or even athletics.

Both varieties of MUGAs provide a great number of benefits to the schools in which they are installed and, in this article, we will detail the five top reasons whyyourschool needs a MUGA.

One of the problems with independent sports areas, is that a school may end up having two or three pitches which are the same size and perform roughly the same role. That is, your football pitch – provided the right markings and equipment are on hand – could double up as a tennis or netball court, too. This is where a MUGA comes in: a sports area which can utilise space in the most economical fashion.

Not only does a MUGA save space, but it also saves money. Instead of spending lots of cash on different sports-specific surfaces, a MUGA is composed of a versatile surface which can accommodate a variety of sports, saving a huge amount of money. What’s more, some sporting equipment such as goals and flags can be included in the structure of the MUGA itself, which means you save on equipment, too.

If you’re strapped for time and you would want to play two sports in the same session – or you would like two different games being played at the same time – MUGAs are the perfect way to achieve this. Some MUGAS allow for lengthways and widthways games, meaning that you could have two games playing widthways simultaneously, followed by a single, larger lengthways one.

MUGAs may not only benefit the children in providing a versatile sports arena, but it could also present your school with an additional stream of income if rented out. Thanks to the arena’s versatility, your MUGA can be rented out to the public for a number of different sports after school hours, generating more money for the school and your students’ sports curriculum.

Finally, MUGAs are easy to maintain! For starters, you only have to maintain one area instead of two or three, instantly reducing the upkeep time and costs; secondly, hardcourt and artificial grass are, on the whole, very hard wearing surfaces which last a long time, significantly increasing the ROI of your sports area. However, if you think your MUGA is looking a little weathered, professional MUGA maintenance is a solid option.