By RANDALL NEWSOME
WISH-TV
Roundtripper Sports Academy has been the place “Where the Pros Come to Practice” for 28 years. Chris and Sue Estep’s training school has been molding players from their youth all the way up to the major leagues.
The facility used to have locations in Brownsburg, Fishers/Geist and Carmel, but once the COVID-19 pandemic hit they decided to bring everything under one roof in Westfield.
“There was definitely a need and it ended up being a huge blessing during all the shutdowns and the capacity issues that a lot of businesses had, because we were able to divide kids into pods, letting them have as normal childhood experiences as we could let them have,” said Sue Estep.
As a part of the new expansion, they added a second floor to the facility where families can comfortably and safely watch their kids practice.
“We’ve got a lot of second-generation families that come here and we noticed that Grandma and Grandpa wanted to come with Mom, Dad and the kids,” Sue said. “We knew it was time.”
Chris looks at kids like 9-year-old Little Leaguer Sebastian Robles showing off his skills inside the facility and practicing with his dad, James, and can’t help but think about how the pandemic impacted players in 2020. He says it gets him even more pumped up about the upcoming spring.
“You had your seniors that lost that senior year of high school and possibly didn’t go on to play in college, you had all the college kids that lost years, but for us to get back on the field and get after it is really exciting,” Chris said.
Sue is looking forward to seeing boys and girls get back on the diamond in April.
“‘[They] have been waiting a long time to get out on the field and represent their schools,” she said.
University High School and Trader’s Point will call Roundtripper Academy home in 2021. Click here for more information.