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North Adams Indoor Sports Facility Marks Third Anniversary
By Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
07:30PM / Saturday, December 03, 2016
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Rob Livingstone works with aspiring baseball players at the Cage recently. The indoor sports practice facility is marking three years with an open house.


NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Even as the calendar turns to December, in a corner of the Blackinton neighborhood, it is always baseball season.
 
Or soccer season or lacrosse season if you prefer.
 
The Cages at the Mill is entering its fourth year of providing indoor practice, training and instruction space for local athletes in the former Blackinton Mill building on Massachusetts Avenue.
 
To celebrate, the complex will hold an open house on Sunday, Dec. 4, from 1 to 3 p.m.
 
Owner Rob Livingstone said recently that business is going strong at the facility, which recently inked a deal with Global Premier Soccer Stateline in Pittsfield to run an 18-week development camp for kids 4 through 11.
 
Livingstone has been pleased overall with how the local sports community has embraced the Cages.
 
"For me, it's rewarding because of the way the community has embraced it and the way the kids talk about it," he said. "You see our T-shirts around town and in different areas around the county.
 
"That's what it's about. It's about our kids having somewhere to go in the winter months, walk in the door and see what we've created — seeing the Fenway green and the jerseys on the wall, seeing posters of local teams and local kids. Kids will come in and sign their poster. Stuff like that is an experience."
 
The Cages offers 4,200 square feet of indoor training space with private and semi-private lessons available in baseball and softball. Sports camps and team training sessions have kept the space hopping throughout the fall, winter and early spring.
 
Unlike bigger, "bubble" facilities, the Cages does not offer space to play full games, but that just allows the coaches and trainers to focus on the work that can be done on the 3,000 square feet of padded artificial turf.
 
"People see that, and they're starting to recognize that," Livingstone said. "And I think with GPS and the soccer community, that's a big step in the right direction for everybody — realizing that this space can work for micro skill development.
 
"Obviously, you can't play games, but when you talk about touches and the 10,000-hour rule and small box training, that's what this offers. But people have to understand that vision and see that concept or it doesn't appeal to them. They'll come in and say, 'Oh, there's eight columns, we can't use it.' Whereas [soccer coaches] Simon [Borrett] and Mark [Gillon] came in and said, 'This is exactly what we need for ages 4 through 11.'
 
Youth baseball coach Rick Paris of Lanesborough is one of those who saw the potential at the Cages.
 
"This is an awesome convenience and opportunity for all the kids in Berkshire County," Paris said. "Rob and the Cages have really worked with us to allow us to work with those kids who really wanted to improve their game. It was a large reason why our boys were so successful throughout their back-to-back [Cal Ripken Baseball] state championships.
 
"When we were growing up, we didn't have these opportunities and now kids who really love baseball have the fortunate opportunity to go in and work at improving their game as much as they want in places like the Cages.
 
"You can surely tell especially at the beginning of a year who put in the extra time in the offseason."
 
Paris said that he is hoping to put together a 13-and-under summer travel run out of the Cages for the 2017 season.
 
Livingstone's facility got into the travel baseball business this summer with a 22-and-under team that competed throughout the Northeast United States and in Canada.
 
"For us, it was an experience that no one had experienced before — going up to Canada and playing in a professional stadium, playing 30 to 40 games," Livingstone said. "It was local baseball players who didn't play for the SteepleCats or the Pittsfield Suns, and we actually had two of our players signed during the season — one by the Suns and one by a team in the New England Collegiate Baseball League. Eric Leitch got picked up and so did Alex Carusotto from Pittsfield.
 
"When we started that team, our thought was just to give the kids a place to play if they couldn't play for the SteepleCats. We never even thought, 'Maybe these kids will now have an opportunity to be signed by a team like that.' But that's exactly what happened."
 
The Cages is doing its part building up the next generation of Berkshires baseball stars by giving local youngsters a place to work with some of the area’s most knowledgeable instructors.
 
"We've had to really do our homework and find the right people to offer quality instruction because all it takes is one bad experience, and that can create a domino effect," Livingstone said. "We've been fortunate. We've had Williams College athletes, MCLA athletes, athletes from Southern Vermont as coaches. We've been fortunate to have high turnover but still be able to provide a quality product year in and year out. It is about relationships.
 
"I don't think playing a sport makes somebody a great sport. I think coaching is about teaching, communicating, building relationships, and not everyone has that trait. We've just been really fortunate to find great people."
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