With the rise of personal sports training the increased demand for indoor sports complexes, The Yard, which recently opened in west Lexington, offers plenty of space for multi-sport training that they rent by the hour.
Nick Williams, owner of The Yard, got the idea to start his own sports complex after a local corporation he worked for finished its lease on the building. Realizing the potential of the building, Williams got to work on starting his company.
He wanted to focus on creating a space that could be used for players of any sport. The Yard is designed for just that with an indoor field, three volleyball/basketball courts, and several batting cages.
The Yard has been open for just over four months, and Williams is already seeing positive results.
“We’re finding that the multi-sport aspect of it is what a lot of people are interested in, Williams said. “You might have a daughter playing volleyball and a son who wants to hit, and while the daughter is playing volleyball then the son can hit, or vice versa.”
All the amenities, from the volleyball courts to the batting cages, are rented by the hour.
Feedback has been especially positive from the soccer community, Williams said. The indoor field is large enough for team training and batting cages can be used individually or combined for small sessions.
“The model I run is not to have trainers on staff, but rather to let those trainers find me and rent the space,” Williams said. “It’s been really great, and the way it just grows organically by word of mouth in that community has been fantastic.”
One trainer, BJ Hall-Vopenhein, runs his ID3 Soccer Academy through The Yard by renting out the field and batting cages to train players. Local club teams have also been renting space for their winter practices.
Grace Jacobs, a Lexington Christian junior, who will be headed to Liverpool with the Kentucky ODP squad in April works with Hall-Vopenhein at The Yard.
“I think it’s awesome,” said Jacobs, who’s also a player for Lexington F.C. “I usually come here on Thursday’s, but tonight I’m just coming to get some extra touches and stuff. I really like it.”
KOVA volleyball club recently settled in at The Yard. Henry Clay High School volleyball coach Dale Grupe is its coaching coordinator, and a number of other high school coaches, including his daughter Erin (Frederick Douglass) are on staff.
“This was kind of a blessing. We had a couple of other places (we were looking at), but it was awesome when we figured out this place had the room,” Dale Grupe said recently as he was measuring serve speeds. “
The baseball and softball business has been picking up as well, with local organizations hosting tryouts and signups at the facility.
The Yard
117 Westhampton Drive, Lexington, KY 40511
Online: https://theyardlex.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheYardLex/?ref=br_rs
Call: (859) 246-1603
