TRAINING CENTER
Fieldhouse to comprise baseball academy, other sports-related businesses
In recent years, the Albuquerque Baseball Academy has garnered national interest for some of the local talent who have gone through its doors and onto careers in professional baseball.
Now, Mike Foote, co-owner of ABA, and business partner Scott Grady are hoping to build on that interest with a new $5 million facility to expand ABA and house other sports-related businesses.
“The concept is really there is just a lack of training facilities (in Albuquerque),” said Foote.
The new facility, called The Fieldhouse, is on 10 acres north of Paseo del Norte and west of Washington NE. It will include an indoor facility of roughly 73,000-square-feet, including concessions, a weight room, meeting spaces and a pro shop. There also will be indoor and outdoor volleyball courts.
The ABA, which was founded in 2004 by Foote and ABA co-owner Ryan Brewer, will move out of its current 15,000-square-foot facility in northeast Albuquerque.
“We are really kind of seeing a generation of kids that go to indoor cages and do private lessons, and they are developing a tool,” said Foote. “But they have no idea how to play the game because they are never on the field. That sandlot day of going out and playing and figuring things out, they are gone.”
Foote and Grady are in talks with high schools to use the facilities in lieu of building new gymnasiums.
The ABA now employs four fulltime staffers but plans to hire more. It also contracts with coaches to provide training.
The ABA offers memberships but drop-ins are also welcome. Membership prices are not yet set, but in the past, the ABA has often offered discounts to kids who cannot afford the fee.
The main anchor will be the ABA, offering 14 full-length batting cages, a training field and a separate artificial turf training infield.
The other anchors include the E3 Volleyball Club. The plan, according to Foote and Grady, is to make volleyball a year-round sport.
Daniel Foo, current assistant coach for UNM Beach Volleyball, is the new E3 Beach Academy coach.
The third main anchor will be a strength and conditioning department lead by Lawrence Herrera, president of LH Performance, who is a fitness consultant for Nike.
Grady and Foote also have plans to include a certified physical therapist.
Completion is expected in August. Construction is being handled by the RayLee Homes commercial arm, a company co-owned by Grady.