KITCHENER -- An indoor baseball training facility in Kitchener is closing its doors for good after six years in business.
PlayBall Academy, a 23-thousand square foot facility that includes batting cages and pitching mounds, officially closed earlier this month.
Co-owner Trevor Nyp called it a difficult but necessary decision after numerous COVID-19 lockdowns hurt business.
He said the facility was often busiest in the winter months, but not this year. Nyp estimates revenue in the coldest months of the year dropped from around $50,000 monthly to only $1,800.
But just weeks after PlayBall struck out, a new tenant is now moving in.
The new tenant, Impact Training Centre, will offer training for a variety of sports, with a focus on basketball.
Owner Imad Qahwash said he's hoping to "get kids off the sidelines and back in the court."
The facility will feature two full-sized International Basketball Federation courts with NBA rims. A strength and conditioning area with personal training will also be onsite.
“Basketball is our roots and we’re really excited to bring something like this to the community that’s new and fresh,” Qahwash said.
According to Qahwash, hundreds of youth have already signed up to play inside the new facility. He said most signed up before they secured a space to rent, with many thinking they’d be playing in rented city-owned facilities or schools.
The organization North Pole Hoops, founded a decade ago to support aspiring basketball players in Canada, said the private sector is booming with a trend in basketball gyms popping up due to many public spaces closing during the pandemic.
“COVID was a blessing in disguise in some ways in terms of creating this opportunity for more facilities by force,” said Tariq Sbiet with North Pole Hoops.
Sbiet said basketball has never been bigger across Canada.
“It’s been growing and Kitchener in particular, especially since Jamal Murray’s ascension into the NBA,” Sbiet said.
Impact Training Centre is gearing up to open its doors to the public on June 10.
