Valley HUB ready to serve it up

Christmas came a little late for the Valley HUB, a regional indoor sports complex located on the fringes of Liberty Lake. But it came last week in the form of a thousand pounds of new sports equipment donated by Rhino Sports.

The equipment includes four complete volleyball sets and two referee stands. “These are the professional grade, NCAA-approved, very nice sets,” said Valley HUB director Jon Delonas. The nets can be adjusted in just a few minutes to do double duty as pickleball or badminton nets. “It saves us a lot of time and effort.”

Also donated were 16 paddles for paddleball, which Delonas describes as a cross between Ping-Pong and tennis. “It’s all the rage, especially with the seniors,” he said.

When the Valley HUB opened in October in the former Sports USA location, the building had been stripped of equipment. Even the basketball hoops and backboards were gone. “The only thing left were the bleachers,” Delonas said.

Rhino Sports, based in Arizona, heard about the facility from the AAU and sent representatives for a visit, said Northwest regional sales representative Jackie Fisher. “We heard the Valley HUB had some needs,” she said.

The company, which installs indoor and outdoor courts and hockey rinks, has its own foundation and makes donations around the world. They want to encourage kids to get up off the couch and get active, Fisher said. “We’re committed to encouraging people to get out and enjoy free play,” she said.

Rhino Sports and the Valley HUB worked together to compile a list of needed equipment. Fisher estimates the value of the equipment donated so far to be close to $10,000. The company also plans to donate a portable batting cage to the tune of $3,000.

“Rhino Sports has been nothing but fantastic,” Delonas said.

A group of churches agreed to pool their resources to open the nonprofit sports complex, which had been empty for two years after Sports USA closed. Organizers were originally given a May 31 deadline to raise the $3.9 million purchase price for the complex and the surrounding 3.2 acres, but that deadline has been extended until January 2009, Delonas said.

Business has been going well since the center opened. “We’re already selling out most of our weekends,” Delonas said, and evenings are starting to fill up as well. He hopes to raise about $750,000 by selling advertising on the walls and on the courts. “If we can sell all that, the bank is happy.”

So far organizers have raised about $250,000 in four months, though some has been spent to “keep the lights on,” Delonas said. In addition to raising the $3.9 million, the group also wants to raise $1.1 million to add parking spots, cover operating costs and create two or three Little League fields. Some fundraisers are scheduled and Delonas said he is always willing to accept donations. Meanwhile, he’s renting out the complex for everything from sports tournaments to birthday parties. “You name it, we’ll try it once,” he said.

A boxing club is forming and Delonas is looking for instructors to lead classes in fitness, dance or judo. The center does have open gym a few times a week, but Delonas has no plans to turn it into a gym with exercise equipment that sells memberships. “We want to be more the community aspect,” he said. “We’re not going to be a gym.”