Player’s Edge in Hollister created to serve family interests
Steve and Regina Wittry have always been plugged into their four
children’s lives, so it makes sense that they would build a
business around one of their kid’s prime interests, Little
League.
Player’s Edge in Hollister created to serve family interests
Steve and Regina Wittry have always been plugged into their four children’s lives, so it makes sense that they would build a business around one of their kid’s prime interests, Little League.
Three years ago, during a trip to batting cages out of town, the Wittrys stumbled upon the idea of starting a batting cage in Hollister and the Player’s Edge has taken off since.
“We’d always known we wanted to start a business that was geared around what kids are into, but it didn’t happen until a few years back,” Regina Wittry said. “We went to the batting cages in San Martin and ran into a lot of local people that we knew.”
Now Player’s Edge features three indoor cages for baseball and softball and grounds for helping the little guys improve T-ball skills as well.
In addition to the batting cages Player’s Edge also features an arcade, a play structure, a child-size rock wall, seasonal crafts as well as craft classes, day camps, a party area, ball clinics and private instruction.
The business was an expensive one to start, but most businesses are. The pitching machines were close to $40,000 alone. There were other expenses for the play equipment, plus the cost of equipping the building. When the Wittrys started the building was basically four bare walls. Since that time they’ve transformed their business into something of a shrine to hitting. Steve Wittry did much of the work himself, from stringing up the netting to installing the cage floors.
The business has been a labor of love for the Wittrys, but it is not one that has come without pains.
One of the biggest challenges was working with the city of Hollister to meet working with the city of Hollister to meet all the required compliances.
“That was a surprise,” Regina Wittry said. “The stuff we dealt with for the city. The bitter inner politics are tough. One of the biggest challenges was when we added restrooms. We opened and had port-o-potties while we were finishing our restrooms, but the city forced us to close while we remodeled them. Later other businesses did the same thing without problems, so it was kind of frustrating.”
While some of the organized baseball and softball teams have been slow to come to Player’s Edge, Wittry said that they are beginning to draw more of a crowd.
“We’ve always had a lot of support from the Little League association,” Regina Wittry said. “Now some of the high school players are coming in too. When we first started the softballs we were using in our softball machines were too hard.We’ve changed that. We also get a lot of repeat customers for birthday parties.”
Tokens can be purchased for $2 each and yield 20 pitches. However, during the summer that number is bumped up to 30 pitches, through Aug. 19. Additionally, the more tokens purchased the better the deal. So, for example, if you purchase $20 worth of tokens you get two free.
For more information contact Players Edge at 1500 Lana Way, Suite A, or phone 638-9782.
