Gymnasium and sports hall lighting is one of those upgrades that seems simple until you start planning it. You’d think replacing old metal halide or fluorescent fittings with LED equivalents would be a straightforward swap. But the requirements for sports lighting are significantly more demanding than general commercial lighting, and getting it wrong creates problems that are expensive to fix.

I’ve been involved in lighting upgrades for sports facilities across NSW and Victoria — council-owned facilities, school gymnasiums, university sports halls, and private fitness centres. The common thread is that the ones that go well start with proper planning, and the ones that don’t are usually the result of someone choosing fixtures based on price without considering the specific requirements of sports lighting.

Understanding the Standards

Australian sports lighting is governed by AS 2560 — the series of standards covering sports lighting for different sports and competition levels. The requirements vary significantly depending on the sport being played and the level of competition.

For a typical multi-purpose gymnasium (basketball, netball, volleyball, badminton, futsal), the lux level requirements at the playing surface are:

• Training/recreation: 200-300 lux
• Club competition: 300-500 lux
• Regional/state competition: 500-750 lux
• National/international: 750+ lux

Most council and school gymnasiums need to meet club competition standards (300-500 lux). But here’s the critical detail that gets missed: it’s not just the average lux level that matters. The uniformity ratio — the minimum lux divided by the average lux — must meet minimum standards. For club competition, the uniformity ratio should be at least 0.6 (some sports require 0.7).

This means you can’t just throw a lot of light at the court and call it done. The light needs to be evenly distributed. Dark spots and bright spots on a basketball court aren’t just annoying — they affect player performance and safety, and they fail compliance.

The Glare Problem

Glare control is arguably the most important aspect of sports hall lighting, and it’s where most LED upgrades run into trouble.

Metal halide fittings are large, diffuse light sources. They produce relatively soft shadows and moderate glare. LED highbay fittings concentrate more light from a smaller source, which can create intense direct glare for players looking upward — and in sports like basketball, volleyball, and badminton, players look up constantly.

The metric that matters here is the Glare Rating (GR) or Unified Glare Rating (UGR). For sports applications, the GR should be below 50, and ideally below 45. Many standard LED highbay fittings designed for warehouse applications have GR ratings well above 50 when used in sports halls.

The solution is to use sports-specific LED fittings with proper glare control optics — diffusers, prismatic lenses, or asymmetric reflectors that direct light downward while minimising upward spill into players’ eyes. These fittings cost more than standard highbays, but they’re essential for a compliant and usable sports lighting installation.

Important: Don’t accept a vendor’s claim that their standard highbay is “suitable for sports” without seeing a lighting design calculation that includes glare analysis specific to your facility’s mounting height and court layout.

Mounting Height Considerations

Most gymnasiums have ceiling heights between 7 and 12 metres. The mounting height significantly affects both the fixture selection and the lighting design.

7-8 metre ceilings (typical school halls): You need fittings with wide beam angles to achieve uniformity from a relatively low height. The challenge is that lower mounting heights mean players are closer to the light source, making glare control more critical. Recessed or semi-recessed fittings with flat lens faces work better than pendant-mounted fittings at these heights.

9-12 metre ceilings (purpose-built sports halls): Higher mounting heights give more design flexibility. Medium beam angles work well, glare is less acute because the light source is further from the player’s line of sight, and uniformity is easier to achieve because each fitting covers a larger area.

Above 12 metres (major venues): Requires high-output sports floods rather than standard highbays. These are specialist fittings with precise optics. Design should be done by a lighting consultant experienced with major sports venues.

Ball Impact Protection

This seems obvious but gets overlooked: LED fittings in gymnasiums need ball impact protection. A basketball hitting a standard LED highbay at speed can shatter the lens, damage the LED board, and create a safety hazard from falling debris.

Fittings in sports halls should have either:

• Impact-rated housings (rated to IK10, the highest impact resistance rating), or
• External wire guards that prevent balls from contacting the fitting directly

Some LED manufacturers offer sports-rated versions of their highbay fittings with reinforced polycarbonate lenses rated for ball impact. These cost approximately 15-25% more than standard versions but are essential for any facility where balls are in play.

The Dimming Advantage

One of the genuine advantages of LED over metal halide in sports halls is instant dimming. Metal halide fittings take 5-15 minutes to warm up and can’t be dimmed without significant colour shift. LED fittings are instant-on and can be dimmed from 100% to 10% with no warm-up time and no colour change.

This has practical benefits.

Energy savings during training. If training requires 300 lux but competition requires 500 lux, you can dim the fittings to 60% output during training and run at full output during games. That’s a 40% energy reduction during training hours, which represents the majority of operating hours for most facilities.

Multi-use flexibility. A gymnasium used for school assembly doesn’t need 500 lux. Dimming to 150-200 lux for non-sporting events saves energy and creates a more comfortable environment. With a DALI or wireless control system, you can create and save lighting scenes for different activities — full court competition, half court training, assembly, exam conditions.

Extended fixture life. Running LED fittings at reduced output extends their operational life. The primary driver of LED degradation is heat, and reduced output means reduced heat. Running fittings at 70% average output can extend L70 life by 30-50%.

Getting the Design Right

A proper sports lighting design should be done using photometric software (AGI32, DIALux, or Relux) with the actual fitting’s IES photometric data file. The design should show:

• Average lux on the playing surface
• Minimum lux and uniformity ratio
• Glare rating at player eye height
• Vertical illuminance (important for ball visibility)
• Spill light onto spectator areas (should be lower than playing surface)

Don’t accept a quote that doesn’t include a detailed lighting design with these metrics. A proper design costs a few hundred dollars and prevents tens of thousands of dollars in remediation costs if the installation doesn’t meet standards.

Sports halls are specialist environments. Treat them that way, and your LED upgrade will serve the facility well for 15-20 years. Cut corners, and you’ll be back for an expensive retrofit within three.