About Us
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History
Over 30 years of providing CNY with premier Baseball and Softball Training.
Sports Zone was established in 1995, but our grass roots started in the spring of 1992 when Dick Woodridge Sr. started training pitchers outside on available baseball fields within Central New York.
Dick, a former pitcher on one of the last teams at Syracuse University, was asked by players if he would help them train to develop the necessary skills needed to improve and play at the next level. In his spare time, Dick trained 21 players, and it soon became obvious that the success of those early players was gaining some local publicity.
By the spring of 1995, we had 200 players in our program, and we decided to grow and create a new business focused on training and developing youth players at all positions year round. Now called Sports Zone, our program seemed to expand rapidly. We spent one year at our first indoor facility on Genesee Street near Crest Cadillac. Seeking more space, we moved to our Burnet Avenue location near Bristol Myers Squib in 1996.
After four years at our Burnet location, our program now included over 300 players with classes and instruction being held every day of the week. The growth would force us into finding a new home at Westvale Plaza in the winter of 2001, where the old roller skate arena once was located. In the summer of 2003, we took the opportunity to relocate our program to the newly constructed indoor facility called Sport Center 481. In 2008, we decided to leave Sport Center 481 and open two smaller locations on the east and west sides of Syracuse.
Our story continued
In the fall of 2011, we opened our newest facility and our largest in Camillus, NY. The new facility allows us to play games indoor during the winter months. In 2013, we moved back into Sport Center 481, where we would run all of our practices for 200+ athletes in both softball and baseball. In the summer of 2023, we moved into a new location at Sport Center Court Street on the east side of Syracuse. Along with our Pine Grove location, Sport Center Court Street will host all of our athletes and allow them to practice and play at their highest potential.
Now with more than 30 years of success, Sports Zone has established itself as the premier place for local area players to participate in baseball and softball programs designed to teach the necessary fundamentals and skills of the game. By utilizing our unparalleled instructional staff, made up of current and former collegiate and professional players, we have escalated our area talent into national prominence.