A FIRST PERSON ACCOUNT OF RUNNING A SMALL BUSINESS.WITH America's favorite pastime in full swing on both Little League and big league fields, L.A.-area batting cages Noun 1. batting cage - a movable screen placed behind home base to catch balls during batting practice cage baseball equipment - equipment used in playing baseball are hopping. Over the years, Kevin KEVIN Keepers of the Eternal Vigilance of the Islamic Nation (fictional, from White Teeth by Zadie Smith) Tyler Tyler, city (1990 pop. 75,450), seat of Smith co., E Tex.; inc. 1850. In the heart of the rich East Texas oil field, Tyler has refineries and other oil-based industries. , co-owner of Carson Baseball Batting Cages and Lakewood Baseball Batting Cages, has perfected his own swing at the family-owned operations. Now he has the opportunity to watch his two daughters do the same. He spoke with Kristin Wilder about turning a childhood hobby A hobby is a spare-time recreational pursuit. Origin of term A hobby-horse was a wooden or wickerwork toy made to be ridden just like the real hobby. From this came the expression "to ride one's hobby-horse", meaning "to follow a favourite pastime", and in turn, into a booming business. "We have had our Carson location for 24 years, and we have been in Torrance for 11 years. My father and I own both locations together. "We got involved in this business because the kids in my family grew up going to batting cages. My dad actually worked for Texaco for 20 years before he decided to go into the batting cage business. We would go and hit on a weekly basis and we all loved baseball, so we decided to make a go of it. "We are busiest from March through June. That is right when Little League baseball is happening. We are not really tied to the Major League season, as much as we are to the Little League season. "I don't really know how much video games See video game console. and things like that are affecting our business. I don't think that is something that would cause batting cages to be less popular. I think there are other things that are getting bigger in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , like year-round soccer, year-round volleyball volleyball, outdoor or indoor ball and net game played on a level court. An upright net, 3 ft (or 1 m) high, the top of which stands 8 ft (2.43 m) from the ground for men, 7 ft 4 1/8 in (2. and year-round basketball. Those are the things that are affecting business more than anything. "We charge one dollar for 16 pitches. We also have hourly rates: $14 for half an hour or $24 for an hour. Our prices are pretty standard. If anything, they are on the low end. "Baseball is huge out here in the Lakewood area, especially with the kids from Long Beach winning the Little League World Series two years in a row. The star of that team is a local kid who still comes in and hits. "We run hitting clinics all the time, with big league players and coaches. They always draw a ton of kids. The neat thing about this business is seeing the kids who grow up here go on to get baseball scholarships to great colleges or even play in the big leagues. That is great to see." |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion