Facility

At first, he wanted to build a larger facility that featured volleyball courts and an indoor baseball facility to go along with the basketball courts. After talking with some members of North Ridgeville’s local government, McNamara decided on a location on Victory Lane. The more McNamara thought about it, the more he realized the financial cost of building such a large facility.

“If I’d have done it like that, it would have been done selfishly because it was going to take a long time and might not have even happened,” McNamara said.

Instead of giving up, McNamara walked into Method Sports & Fitness, located across the street from the proposed site of the facility, and got in touch with owner Tom O’Brien. From there, McNamara worked with O’Brien to bring his facility to life. When it opens, HoopTech will be attached to Method Sports & Fitness located at 7725 Victory Lane in North Ridgeville.

“It’s worked out great so far,” McNamara said. “It’s been a great partnership.”

The facility will feature two full-size basketball courts, along with additional training and relaxation rooms. McNamara said the plan is to have one of the courts serve as the “main court” where pickup games and certain workouts will be, with the other court serving as a junior high court where youth training will take place.

The facility will also feature a parent lounge overlooking the court along with a player’s lounge that will feature TVs, ping-pong tables and homework and recovery stations.

“We want the players to come in and almost feel like they’re on a Division I team or an NBA team,” McNamara said.

While McNamara and his staff are still working through the facility’s hours and membership fees, they have a good idea of how the facility will operate.

In addition to hosting AAU and organized tournaments, McNamara is also planning on having adult leagues available at the facility for members and non-members.

HoopTech will also feature two different membership types. As of now, the base membership will allow for admission into the facility, while a highertier membership will feature an hour of interactive training and coaching a day. McNamara said the first 200 members to join will be considered founding members and will get a special reward. He said memberships will be available starting in July.

“We’re hoping that, pending any delays, we’ll be able to have some open houses in July,” McNamara said.

McNamara wants to use new basketball related technology at HoopTech, and a facility’s tagline, “where basketball meets technology.”

“We’re planning on having floor coaches and floor trainers who will help kids going through the interactive training,” McNamara said.

“We’re all going to be trained in a certain language based around our technology. We’re all going to be saying the same things that we want to convey to our athletes and parents.”

McNamara’s head trainer is Jordan Beard, a local basketball product who starred at Oberlin College.

After being named Lorain County’s Mr. Basketball in 2004, Beard starred for four years at Oberlin, where he scored more than 1,000 points in his career.

While the novel coronavirus pandemic has delayed construction slightly, McNamara said it is still moving along quickly, as the warmer winter allowed for them to get ahead on the project.

“We still should be good with a summer opening, and then we’ll get right into our fall and winter leagues,” he said.

For more information about HoopTech, visit https://www.hooptech. com/.