Are we choosing the best wooden sports floor or simply the most familiar specification?
There is a question we need to ask ourselves: When did association labels become more important than the product quality itself?
We have seen this conversation happen repeatedly in the Indian market. A client enquires about a wooden sports floor and the conversation begins with the things that should matter: the flooring system, the wood species, manufacturing process, installation and long-term features. Then comes the question: “Is it an MFMA system?” And sometimes, that one question seems to decide everything before the actual product has even been evaluated.
But should it?
Let’s talk about the wood first.
At SUNFLEX, we manufacture our wooden sports flooring systems in India. Our approach is simple: we use First, Select and Better Grade top wooden board for our customers. Not because it sounds impressive in a brochure but because we believe that if someone is investing in a sports floor that athletes will use for years, the quality of the material should matter. Read More On Grades
This is where we believe the industry needs a more honest conversation.
MFMA itself recognises multiple grades of maple flooring, including First Grade, Second and Better Grade, Third and Better Grade, Third Grade, and Utility Grade. So, there is a very important question that should follow:
What grade or quality of wood are you actually getting? Because somewhere along the way, that question seems to have disappeared from the conversation.
But there is another question we need to ask.
When someone tells you that you are buying an “MFMA system”, what exactly does that mean?
A wooden sports floor is not just the visible top wooden surface. It is a complete system made up of the playing surface, subfloor and finishes. In other words, the presence of MFMA-qualified surface does not automatically tell you everything about the complete floor system underneath it.
This is an important distinction. A client may hear “MFMA system” and understandably assume that the entire floor, from the top board down to the subfloor, carries the same label, qualification or association status.
The reality is simple: the MFMA specification applies to the top board only. Often, the subfloor beneath is manufactured in India and governed by its own specifications. So when we call the complete installation an “MFMA system”, what exactly are we referring to?
That is not a small technical detail you can ignore. The subfloor is a major part of how a wooden sports floor behaves.
So the next time someone says “This is an MFMA floor”, perhaps the right response is not simply to accept the label.
Ask: Is the complete system from an MFMA manufacturer? (We would be genuinely interested to see a “yes” to that question.)
We have seen customers focus so heavily on whether a flooring system carries the MFMA name that the actual grade and quality of the wood becomes secondary. The difference in the grade of wood was clear to us, yet the conversation often remained centered around the specification or association attached to the competing product. And that is the part we find difficult to understand.
We are not questioning the value of MFMA standards or the suppliers who follow them.
MFMA has an established role in the maple sports flooring industry and its standards provide useful benchmarks for manufacturers and buyers. Our concern is not with the existence of those standards. It is with what happens when the association name becomes the end of the evaluation rather than the beginning of a more detailed conversation.
A decision should not stop at a name. It should continue with questions.
What grade of wood are you getting? What species? How is the wood selected and graded? How is the complete flooring system designed? What are its tested performance characteristics? Who is manufacturing the system? Who is installing it? What support will be available after installation?
These are not secondary questions. They are fundamental questions.
SUNFLEX manufactures its Maple wood sports flooring systems in India using wood that is originally sourced from either an American or a Canadian mill that is certified by FSC. Hence, we are not an MFMA member manufacturer (Since only American companies are eligible). As a result, there are projects where the conversation can effectively end before our product is even evaluated, simply because the specification asks for an MFMA label.
And that raises a question worth asking:
Are we evaluating the quality, or are we evaluating the label?
Should an Indian manufacturer have to carry an international association’s passport before they are allowed into the room?
We believe a product manufactured in India should have the opportunity to compete on the basis of its actual quality and performance. That is not an argument against certifications or associations. It is an argument for performance-based evaluation.
Ask for the wood grade. Ask for the technical specifications. Ask how the floor is expected to perform 5, 10 or even 15 years down the line.
And most importantly, ask what you are actually paying for.
For manufacturers like us, this is not simply a commercial concern. It is about what kind of industry we want to build in India. Because taking India forward is not about asking the world to choose Indian products because they are Indian. It is about building products so good that India is chosen because of the quality it delivers.
For more information or enquiries, contact us through any of the contact options below.