Asham unveils local softball, baseball academy

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This article was published 21/08/2024 (633 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Faron Asham always wondered how he could take his Triple Crown business to the next level.

As it turned out, he just had to listen to his athletes as unveils a new Brandon-based academy for softball and baseball players.

“It was players coming to me and saying ‘Have you ever thought of doing an academy-style program?’” Asham said. “We were looking to alternatives to the mainstream programs that are out there, and more so we were looking to some alternative sports. We sat down and talked about it — I talked to a couple of buddies in both the baseball and softball worlds down south — and they were saying it’s a great idea for Manitoba athletes and a chance for them to get exposure to some colleges and college coaches at these tournaments.”

The softball academy kicks off on Sept. 7, with baseball starting up in early October. Both programs finish up at the end of March.

It will be an utterly unique program in Manitoba but it’s common elsewhere. For instance, there are 17 baseball academies in Alberta alone that have drawn some local athletes.

Asham had considered the idea in the past, but until he opened his TC Indoor Sports Facility in the spot once used by the Wheat City Curling Club, it wasn’t realistic.

Now he can run skills and hitting at the same time.

“I’ve been thinking on this for quite some time, since we started Triple Crown way back in ‘03,” Asham said. “It’s always been something that’s been out there. How can we take the next step? What do we next step-wise? The barrier always was, where do you work it? How do we run this in the winter? It’s too cold to be throwing outside, so where do you go?

“The use of gymnasiums didn’t meet our needs because it just wasn’t big enough and didn’t allow you the chance to throw real balls or hit real balls. When we acquired the facility, it really opened up the avenue for us to truly explore.”

The old Wheat City space at 3500 McDonald Ave., is about 15,000 square feet, with 10,000 square feet of open turf with a 24-foot ceiling. On the far side of the old curling club, there is 2,000 square feet devoted to batting cages, including a dedicated spot for softball, another for baseball and a third devoted to pitchers.

The batting cages are 14-feet wide and 20-feet high.

The TC Bulldogs, as they will be known, will participate in weekly three-hour sessions on Sundays, with weekday workouts on alternating Wednesdays. That schedule allows athletes to play other sports, something that’s important to Asham.

“We’re encouraging the multi-sport athlete,” Asham said. “We don’t want to be a 12-month athlete. We’re going to run basically 12 months, but we’re not encouraging you to play competitively all 12 months. We want you to have different sports, continue playing the hockey and the volleyball and stuff like that.”

This isn’t his first crack at the academy model, although the last one wasn’t entirely local.

Asham had previously affiliated with the 222’s Fastpitch program based out of Saskatoon, but eventually found the 620-km drives to be a little too much.

“We came to an agreement that I’m going to stay in Manitoba here and run my own piece of it,” Asham said. “The travel got to be a lot, especially for some of the Manitoba athletes travelling to Saskatoon and some of the trips down to the U.S., lasting upwards of 14 days away. It was just tough for work and parents. We’re going to modify the program a little bit and practise more and skill development more than the Saskatchewan program. We’re going have two tournaments that all our athletes are going to go to, one being pre-Christmas, and one being post-Christmas.”

Softball heads to Prairie Classic in Sioux Falls, S.D., in mid-October, with baseball travelling to the Perfect Game tournament in Las Vegas. All the athletes are potentially headed to a massive event in St. Petersburg, Fla., that will run in mid-March during spring break.

Since they’re attending tournaments in the United States, the age groups conform to American standards. Softball is running 16U, 14U, 12U and potentially 10U. Baseball, meanwhile, features 18U, 15U and 13U.

Outside coaches are bring brought in, with many of them graduates of Asham’s previous programs who have gone on to play higher levels of their respective sports. The baseball side of the operation is headed up by Asham’s son Dustin, while Joel Charles will look after softball.

Faron Asham will work on both sides.

There is also an advisory board for any concerns that come from the operation, with Brent Fines (softball), Brad Schoonbaert (baseball) and Bruce Luebke serving.

“We’re going to have an advisory board in place just so that everything is transparent and there are no questions left unanswered,” Asham said. “They’re going to be there for some guidance and any advice and direction that’s needed.”

Asham is well aware of the high performance programs in town — he led the under-17 Magic to a western Canadian championship in Winkler last summer — and tailored his program to stay within the guidelines of the provincial governing bodies. That’s why they finish up by the end of March.

“We’re not going to work in competition against the existing programs,” Asham said. “That’s not our goal. Our goal is to strengthen those programs by helping you players to develop and make those programs stronger.”

More details are available at tcsports.ca

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