By Sam Elliott
With a decade of local youth baseball involvement already under his belt, Beau Brunnemer has a passion for the sport and the Fishers families and children that enjoy it.
He’s served as president of the Fishers-HSE Youth Baseball League for eight years, and the goal of developing the skills of local players has led him to co-owning and running the new Fishers Sports Academy indoor facility along with Kyle Bach and Ed Woolwine — a former Big Ten champion outfielder at Michigan and FSA’s hitting and fielding instructor.
“Basically four years ago one of our travel coaches came up and said, ‘You know, if we’re really going to be a real travel program, we need an indoor facility.’ I told him, ‘Well, let me see what I can do,’” Brunnemer said. “I kind of sounded it out with people and we ended up, through the league, putting a little temporary place together behind Home Depot … We bought some turf and took our nets and cages and L screens we normally had outside at Billericay Park and took them inside. I literally hung every wire in there and kind of set it up, designed it and put it together. All our travel teams signed up to be a part of it and we basically had a real low-cost rent and utilities and people loved it.”
The group of Fishers-HSE youth teams didn’t last long in that location, however, but two years ago found its current home at 12910 Ford Dr. Plans for another location — to accommodate more teams and players from other leagues across the area — were pursued but ended up shelved, but the ownership group decided to move forward with its vision for FSA.
“We decided to go ahead and do it for real in this space. We ended up building out this 14,000 feet here in this building and we’re hopeful that people support it,” Brunnemer said. “Our mindset is it’s a community-focused place. It’s run by people that have a passion for our community and the youth of our community and we’ve put our own money and necks on the line to kind of make it go — and hopefully it does.”
The facility has space for two teams to practice simultaneously with batting and pitching cages plus an infield and pitching machines, and also offers individual memberships and instruction from a staff of coaches with ample experience at the college and professional baseball level. Eric Blakeley — an all-Big Ten shortstop at Indiana University, recent transplant to Fishers and FSA’s general manager — was drafted by and played six seasons with the Seattle Mariners organization. He owns his own indoor facility in northwest Indiana and has seen firsthand how a space like FSA can benefit local players.
“I think it’s huge. When I was younger, we never had anything like this,” Blakeley said. “In high school, I played three sports and we went from one sport to the next, so I picked up a baseball bat about two weeks before the season and my basketball coach was also my baseball coach … These days, with all the travel baseball and even the youth rec leagues, teams are starting to practice in November already. Most teams are already getting together in January and starting indoor practices. It used to be where if you lived in a warmer climate you had an advantage because you could get out and train more, but I think the Midwest is catching up nowadays.
“They want this to be a facility that’s for the community and for the betterment of baseball and softball in the Fishers area,” Blakeley added of FSA’s owners. “That was the main thing for me in choosing to be a part of this because I’m the same way wanting to be a part of the community I’m in.”
Since its soft opening in November, FSA is already hosting 42 teams from local leagues in addition to its own youth camps and training programs. Brunnemer hopes to expand FSA’s reach beyond local teams, eyeing corporate teambuilding events, church youth group lock-ins or fundraisers and even at-home moms or day cares looking for a place for children to play T-ball or kickball during the day.
“At the end of the day, I recognize very, very, very, very few kids will make the major leagues. But I’m a rec guy at heart, so I like to see kids having fun playing ball and their families being involved with it,” Brunnemer said. “Being able to foster that kind of opportunity — maybe kids come and have fun, maybe some take it a little more seriously and they want to get instruction and maybe make a high school team, of even better if they’re able to make a college team and they’re able to help get their education paid for — to me, that’s good stuff.”
Fishers Sports Academy
Where: 12910 Ford Dr.
What: 14,000-square-foot indoor baseball and softball training facility, including an infield, batting cages with baseball and softball pitching machines, pitching lanes and upstairs mezzanine hangout area.
Upcoming events
Rec evaluation prep camps
5th and 6th grade: 5:15-6:30 p.m. Feb. 15 and 22
7th and 8th grade: 5:15-650 p.m. Feb. 29 and March 2
More: FishersSportsAcademy.com, Facebook.com/FishersSportsAcademy and Twitter.com/FishersAcademy
