Asham opens indoor fieldhouse

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This article was published 20/12/2023 (743 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With a lot of hard work, Faron Asham’s dream has come to fruition.

The Brandon entrepreneur, perhaps best known as a baseball and softball coach, began thinking about the benefits of an indoor training facility when he started Triple Crown in 2003.

The TC Indoor Sports Facility opened in October at 3500 McDonald Ave., in the spot used by the Wheat City Curling Club prior to 2010.

“We had our first-ever indoor camp in, ironically enough, the Wheat City Curling Club, and during that time we worked 16 hours and ran 20 or 30 players through and thought ‘this is the greatest thing ever,’” Asham said of his company’s start in 2003. “Exactly 20 years later, we’ve opened up a turf facility that can be used by multi sports. It’s the realization of a goal of mine when Triple Crown was first formed to grow, and here we are.”

The old curling club, which is in the bottom floor of the main building beside the Wheat City Golf Course’s pro shop, has done little more than store golf carts in recent years. The building also contains The Eagles Nest Bar & Grill, which is a separate business.

The City of Brandon looked for ideas of what could be done with the building back in 2012, and ultimately sold it to developers in 2016. There was discussion at one point about turning it into a skating rink, but after that plan fell apart, the current owners approached Asham a year ago about the possibility of turning the old curling club into an indoor training facility.

“I thought ‘Why not, if we’re going to take a dive, let’s go into the deep end,’” Asham said.

The building has undergone extensive renovations since Asham took over.

The most obvious change is the turf, which was purchased from the Keystone Centre, where it wasn’t being used much. It was installed in August, with some test events held in September and the facility opened up for public use in October.

The old Wheat City space is about 15,000 square feet, with 10,000 square feet turned into open turf available for a number of sports.

The turf area, which has a 24-foot ceiling, has already attracted the rugby, lacrosse, football and soccer communities. The latter has been an especially good client, with a soccer league already operating at TC.

“We’ve had a lot of interest from the numerous soccer groups in the city and area,” Asham said. “We knew that with the demographics in Westman at this time that soccer is widely played. We’re hoping it continues to show the growth and usage.”

In terms of demand, Asham is quick to say his expertise is on the softball and baseball side of things, but he added the facility will serve its purpose in providing a more natural setting for winter training, regardless of the sport.

“We’re at a disadvantage coming into the spring,” Asham said. “It’s nice to work out in a gym, but it’s just not the same feel. In our facility, we can use hardballs and we can practise with real softballs and real baseballs and real footballs and real soccer balls. It’s very conducive to what you’ll be feeling when you get out on the grass.

“On the softball side, you can set up a full infield and you can work on any kind of plays you want … bunts, double plays. In baseball it’s a little tighter, but up to U13 you can have a full-on infield.”

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.

“You can come in and throw your bullpens in a controlled setting,” Asham said. “You can come in and hit live during the winter, which is something you’ve never been able to do in this area. You can throw 80 miles per hour and have a live hitter in there so you can stay ready through the off-season and get ready to go on the diamond in the spring.”

While he had some of the equipment at his old Tri-Star location, everything is new in the facility other than the baseball pitching machine. The batting cages are 14-feet wide and 20-feet high so there is lots of room to work.

“My goal is to have a softball lesson going on with a baseball rental with a group of teams, with pitchers throwing in the bullpen while soccer is out playing on the turf,” Asham said.

He also has a team of coaches helping him with baseball and softball skills.

In addition, the viewing area on the second floor has been spruced up with new tables and bar stools to allow people to watch games or lessons from above. Service from the restaurant and bar is available.

In the other part of the building, Asham is opening up a small pro shop to offer all types of equipment, and Asham’s uniform and apparel companies Tri-Star Screenprinting & Embroidery and Dynasty Curling are moving in together under one roof.

“We’ll be able to custom sports teams and uniforms right across the board,” Asham said. “It will make it kind of a one-stop shop and a hub for sports in Westman.”

The facility is having its official launch in the New Year.

All bookings are online — visit www.tcsports.ca — with turf rentals available from Monday to Friday at $150 per hour from 4 to 10 p.m., and on weekends for $175 per hour from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. The batting cages have slightly more condensed hours, 4 to 9 p.m. on weekdays and noon to 8 p.m. on weekends.

The cages are $39.99 per hour (plus tax), and the pitching tunnel is $19.99 per hour.

“We’ve seen a need in the Westman community and we hope that people will support it and use it to its fullest extent,” Asham said. “It’s that same old adage, if you build it, they will come.”

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