Valley Sports Center Celebrates One-Year Anniversary

Submitted release 

Valley Sports Center, will celebrate its one-year anniversary this weekend. Opened April 1, 2011, the 28,000 square foot facility located at 310 Albany Turnpike, has become the place for a wide variety of sports programs for athletes of all ages including basketball, baseball, volleyball and more.

“Looking back over the past year, I am grateful to see the number of families regularly coming here, staying active and having fun. I truly appreciate the way the community has embraced us,” says Mark Lange, Valley Sports Center owner, and long-time Canton resident.

VSC has become a mecca for basketball programs offered year-round for adults and youth, including substantial leagues in fall and winter offered for student players. Camps, clinics, tournaments, individual and small group instruction are offered throughout the year and pick-up basketball on Friday nights, rounds out the basketball program.

The Bill Decker Baseball School at VSC has attracted a number of local players who have participated in specialized pitching, hitting and throwing clinics and other pre-season baseball programs, all led by Bill Decker, Trinity College’s baseball coach. VSC has become a hub of cage rentals for local little leagues as well.

VSC offers four volleyball courts making this a sought after and ideal location for adult leagues, high school leagues, camps, clinics and instruction.  Several volleyball organizations from around the state have utilized the courts to host practices and tournaments throughout the year.

VSC’s group of athletic coaches, instructors and operational staff play a key role in providing guests with exceptional customer service and a pleasant experience. 

“We have almost 50 employees on our team, mostly part-timers, who are a great group of individuals,” says Christine Carpenter, VSC general manager.   “As our programs continue to grow, we will offer new job opportunities to local communities.”

Other sports gaining popularity at the center include soccer and lacrosse. VSC has become one of the area’s best indoor soccer locations developing a niche with after-school youth soccer clinics, a big hit with the Canton community.  The highly popular Lil’ Kickers child development program continues to grow and gives kids as young as 18 months old the opportunity to be exposed to the fundamentals of soccer.  Lacrosse teams have found the large gymnasium setting appealing as well with several organizations already renting space for next year.

In addition to a strong line-up of high quality, fun and safe sports programs, Valley Sports Center is also home to Velocity Sports Performance, advanced sports performance training serving athletes ages 8 and up, looking to improve their speed, agility, quickness, strength and overall fitness in preparation for their specific sports.  A number of youth sports organizations and high school teams have taken advantage of this program at VSC, and have seen athlete improvement from a customized training program designed specifically for their players. 

Other highly popular programs include sports birthday parties where the birthday child has his/her choice of a long list of sports activities.  With so much to choose from, parties continue to be popular with VSC hosting over a thousand children in the first year. VSC has hosted a corporate business annual meeting and several chamber functions, with both a Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah scheduled for 2013. 

Day camps offered during school breaks and vacations continue to gain momentum, since the snow storm in October really fueled this program.  Over 100 kids sought refuge at the VSC’s snow day camp offered for 8 days following that storm. Day camps were recently held for students from local towns that had half days of school, and will be held on Good Friday and during April break. 

Fun Nights for kids ages 8 to 14 and Hoops & Scoop nights for kids ages 6 to 12, are held throughout the year offering parents a night out while their kids have loads of supervised sports fun at VSC.

Valley Sports Center is offering a host of anniversary contests, promotions and events including:

• FREE OPEN GYM – Friday, March 30, 4 to 6 p.m.
• FREE PICK-UP BASKETBALL – Friday, March 30, 8 to 10 p.m.
• FREE OPEN GYM – Saturday, March 31, 9 to 11 a.m.
• FREE FAMILY FUN NIGHT - Saturday, March 31, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
• FREE PICK-UP VOLLEYBALL – Sunday, April 1, 6 to 8 p.m.

For more information on these events, or for details on any VSC programs, call 860-693-BEST (2378), or visit VSC at 310 Albany Turnpike (Route 44), Canton, CT.