CLEVELAND — The Women’s Final Four is coming to Cleveland this weekend and the excitement around the city is growing for the big event.
Although the court inside Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse looks seamless, getting it there takes some effort. The Women’s Final Four court comprises 262 panels that weigh over 42,000 pounds in total.
Connor Sports is the company responsible for the Women’s Final Four court and has been doing that for almost 20 years. Zach Riberdy, the marketing director for Conor Sports, explained that the company is based out of a small town in Michigan.
“Where our mill is and where we’re located is a very small town in Upper Peninsula, Michigan. Most people drive through it and don’t even realize where it’s at. So to know that my team of everybody at the mill, about 125 employees or so, working night shift, day shift, a combination of both, has some piece of this puzzle put together for us, is huge,” he said.
The court took approximately two hours to lie down in Cleveland, but making it started over a year ago, Riberdy explained.
“Initial panels were put together to make up the actual grid work of the floor itself,” he said. “From there, the panels were stacked and banded, sent by truck to our finishing partners in Ohio. They got to work on all the graphics and paint.”
Connor Sports makes courts for many games in different cities, but they try to make each court unique to each city. Riberdy said for the Women’s Final Four courts, they wanted to tie in Cleveland’s music connections. This is why the logo for the Women’s Final Four is shaped like a guitar pick and there are small details on the exterior of the court as well.
Riberdy explained that he knows how big women’s basketball is this year.
“I can say for the first time in my lifetime, I’ve actually paid closer attention to the women’s tournament than the men’s,” he said.
Katie Priefer
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