Pastime Sports Helps Athletes Get into the Swing of their Season

There are few places where you'll find people from the ages of 7 to 40 practicing a sport next to one another. But, that is the wide range of people that come into  in New Lenox to work on their baseball or softball hitting skills in batting cages.

History - Pastime Sports Academy has been located here for about 13 years, said current co-owner Scott Simons.

Mike Johnson was the original owner of the baseball and softball instructual facility. He started the business for his son that played at Lincoln-Way Central, according to Simons. There have also been several other owners between Johnon and Simons to own the place, including former Minnesota Twins playerSteve Otto.

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Who works there?

Owners - "I just took (Pastime Sports Academy) over on December 3, 2011, and we just took over the existing name," said Simons, who co-owns the business with his wife Tracy.

"It was something to do for (our) kids," explained Simons on why he decided to purchase the facility with his wife. "During the day, I'm home with the kids. I the evenings my daughter plays travel (soft)ball and my son plays baseball. What better than to be with the kids?"

Employees - Most of the instructors at Pastime Sports Academy have played either baseball or softball at least up until the high school level and some have coached.

"I really enjoy coaching softball," said instructor Beth Boezeman, who is in her second year working at Pastime Sports Academy and has coached previously at the college level. "It's fun to see (athletes) improve, and work on more difficult tasks.

Helping Athletes Make Strides - A couple of the athletes I spoke to agreed that coming to Pastime Sports Academy has made them better at their respective sport.

"I moved up in the batting order," said one softball player. "I'm more of a power hitter now than I was (before)."

What Makes This Business Special? - "If there's anything we can do for anybody - we try and do it," said Simons.

He has opened the building early and stayed late so teams and individuals could practice their swings. There have even been times where Simons has come into the facility on days where he was off to allow athletes to train.

Connecting with Customers via Social Media - Simons uses the Pastime Sports Academy Facebook page to interact with his athletes. He will even offer deals on time in batting cages occasionally.

"We might put out on the page - the first person that calls me or knows my favorite baseball player gets a free hour of cage time."

Plans for the Future - Simons made one thing clear: the business will stay in New Lenox. He also added that he would like to make the property bigger, and possibly add an infield to the facility for athletes to practice.

Has Pastime Sports Academy been a part of your life for any period of time? Tell us in the comments.

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