Rachel Wardle, co-owner of Athletix, shows off the Columbiana facilitys Field House which includes volleyball and basketball courts as well as a turf field and pickleball courts. The 45,000 square-foot sports training and competition facility will open to the public soon. (Photo by Westley Dorton)

COLUMBIANA A new, state-of-the-art sports facility is coming soon to Columbiana.

The Wardle family of North Lima is slowly brining Athletix to life at 613 State Route 7.

A perfect storm of realization and opportunity allowed the family to construct and open the new multi-purpose facility. The family noticed a need for a quality sports facility in the area, and was able to purchase the land necessary for the 45,000-square foot project.

Theres definitely a community need, as we came to find out through talking with people that we know out in the sporting world, co-owner Rachel Wardle said. Then, we were looking for a great plot of land off of a main street, but we were also just looking at Columbiana its just a beautiful place to be, wonderful people, great attitude and a lot of other family businesses popping up nearby.

Not only is Athletix owned by a local family, but it is dedicated to providing athletes with every opportunity possible to see improvements in their respective sports. The facility boasts an exciting merge of quality equipment with cutting edge technology. The hope is that combining the two aspects will allow Athletix trainers to get the highest quality performance out of each athlete.

The biggest thing for our machines is the Perch Technology because it gives the athlete young athlete, college athlete, or general person a visual thing, said manager of the Strength and Fitness Center Evan Schneider. It gives them something in front of them, rather than a mirror, that they can see the result, their speed and their form. Its really going to put a value on that.

Schneider went on to clarify that the Perch Technology a program using real-time statistics to enhance the quality of a workout is being used frequently in professional leagues and has seen a more steady presence in Div. 1 in college athletics as well.

Aside from the benefits to athletes, Athletix is looking to provide Columbiana with more job opportunities as well. A member of the ownership family Sean Wardle said that he and Athletix are looking at hiring four to six salaried positions. A little closer to their opening day, which has yet to be determined, he is hoping to have one to two dozen hourly positions available as well.

FACILITY BREAKDOWN

The property is two buildings connected by a central tunnel. The front building houses the Training and Fitness Center, The Cage, two Topgolf Swing Suites, the Studio and an on-site concession stand, Home Plate. The second building is the Field House and it contains an indoor turf field and basketball/volleyball courts.

FRONT BUILDING

The Training and Fitness Center occupies a total of 3,000 square feet of the front building. As noticeable as its total size is, the facility offers a wide variety of equipment. Its top of the line equipment Nautilus equipment, Schneider said. You can get a workout in for anybodyany type of athlete, general fitness enthusiast, bodybuilding, all of it.

The Strength and Fitness Center also houses treadmills, ellipticals, rowing machines, assault bikes and Olympic lift stations.

The Cage is the center of training for softball and baseball, and, in addition, it also is used for speed and agility training for soccer and football.

These cages are specifically designed for baseball and softball players that want to work on their hitting and pitching, manager of the Cage Kevin Davis said.

The main technologies involved in The Cage are the Rapsodo and Hit Trax systems.

According to Athletix posted signage, Rapsodo allows athletes to track [their] performance with each visit to the cage. Rapsodo produces metrics and measurables for hitting and pitching, for baseball and softball.

The Hit Trax system allows hitters to virtually play ball in all 32 Major League Baseball parks while tracking the hitters metrics.

The two Topgolf Swing Suites are capable of housing eight members in each suite. The suites allow golfers and non-golfers to enjoy the space with a wide selection of mini-games involving a number of different sports, including football and dodgeball. The bays also have 80 professional golf courses that can be played during the rental. This section is intended to be both used for both recreation and training, depending on the rental. The bays will provide detailed swing metrics for each golfer.

Athletix said The Studio is a multipurpose space for small group fitness classes, trainings, certifications, special events, and sports psychology training. The space will hold yoga, aerobics, Mommy and Me classes, cheernastics (for children) and cheer classes.

The on-site concession stand Home Plate has ample seating inside.

FIELD HOUSE

By far the larger of the two buildings, the Field House comprises a massive 34,000 feet of the total square footage of Athletix. The Field House has enough hardwood space to run four volleyball games at the same time and it can also play host to two basketball games simultaneously. It also has the ability to host six pickleball games at a time.

On the far side of the Field House is a large turf field. The field can host softball, baseball, flag football, soccer and lacrosse matches. Athletix management said the space will host tournaments, leagues, camps, practices, scrimmages and training.

WHEN DOES IT OPEN?

Rachel Wardle said area athletes will have to wait a bit for opening day, but it is coming soon.

We dont have an exact opening day yet, Rachel Wardle said. Were looking forward to opening sometime soon probably within the next month to two months. We are probably going to do a soft opening. Look forward to the Strength and Fitness Center opening up soon, with memberships there.

More information can be obtained at athletixtraining.com, on Facebook at Athletix.Sports and on Instagram at athletix.training.

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