Sprinturf today announced the recipients of its 2026 LEAP Grant program, awarding roughly $500,000 in total funding to support community-driven projects that expand access to high quality athletic and recreational spaces.
The announcement, released January 16 via PRNewswire, marks the second round of the LEAP Grant program. Twelve projects across eight states were selected from a pool of applicants representing schools, parks departments, nonprofits, and tribal communities. All twelve installations are scheduled to be complete by the end of 2026.
Recipient projects span Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Indiana. Awards range from full-field installations to multi-use practice surfaces, batting cages, and inclusive play environments. Each grant is paired with on-site project support from a Sprinturf regional team.
What LEAP funds
The LEAP Grant program was created to give communities a path to a real recreational space when the budget gap is the only thing standing in the way. The program covers a meaningful portion of the synthetic-surface scope, with the recipient organization handling site work and program operations.
Grants in this cycle support a mix of project types:
- Full athletic field rebuilds at public schools without the capital budget for a from-scratch installation.
- Multi-use practice surfaces serving baseball, lacrosse, and soccer programs from a single footprint.
- Inclusive play environments designed for adaptive recreation programs.
- Two batting-cage and bullpen surfaces for youth baseball associations.
States represented in this cycle
States in the 2026 cycle
- AR
- Arkansas
- GA
- Georgia
- FL
- Florida
- TX
- Texas
- NM
- New Mexico
- KY
- Kentucky
- PA
- Pennsylvania
- IN
- Indiana
Why we run LEAP
Most of the calls Sprinturf sales reps take in a given week begin with a community that has the will, the volunteers, and a clear plan, but a budget that stops short of the surface itself. LEAP is the program we built to close that last gap.
The 2025 LEAP cycle funded 13 projects. This year's cycle adds another 12. Sprinturf intends to keep the program running on an annual cadence, with grant cycles announced in early winter and installations scheduled across the construction year.
Communities are the reason this industry exists. The LEAP program is our way of pulling the budget barrier out of the way for organizations that have already done the hard work of building a plan. Sprinturf Leadership
Timeline
Recipients have already been notified. Pre-construction surveys begin February 2026. Field installations are scheduled across the spring and summer construction window, with the final projects wrapping by year-end 2026. Sprinturf will publish project recaps as installations are completed, with photos and project facts on this site and in the newsroom feed.
About the program
The Sprinturf LEAP Grant program supports community-driven projects that expand access to safe, durable athletic and recreational spaces. Eligible applicants include public schools, parks departments, municipal recreation programs, federally recognized tribes, and 501(c)(3) youth organizations. The next application cycle opens in fall 2026.
