GO Indoor

Facility Profile: Afrim's Sports b y S y l v i e Gr e e n frim's Sports is two indoor sports facilities in the Albany, NY area. One is the Center City Sports Complex in Schenectady, and the other is the Colonie Athletic Club. The history of the Center City Sports Complex begins with Afrim Nezaj's first facility, the Washington Avenue Armory. The Washington Avenue Armory was once the home of the Albany Patroons, a professional basketball team coached by Phil Jackson. This was about the time when Afrim played indoor soccer professionally with the New York Kick of the National Professional Soccer League. In the fall of 1990, the Albany Patroons no longer needed the Armory, but the Kick needed a place to practice. As part owner as well as a player, Afrim made some decisions. The team would rent the Armory by the hour. With only a wooden floor to practice on, one of the first changes was to put in a rink. The New York Kick did not last and, when the team disbanded, Afrim and his teammates continued to play indoor soccer. They called their friends and other players and invited them to join a league. They played on one large field with boards purchased from the Kick. The popularity of the league grew as other members of the soccer community gained interest. After their first season, players wanted to continue and others wanted to join. Afrim's hobby turned into a business. In order to accommodate the growing number of participants, Afrim expanded the Washington Avenue A Armory into two fields, partially surrounded by boards, with wooden floors. Youth leagues began to play there. In fall of 1991 Afrim laid turf on one of the fields. He worked slowly and out of necessity. The following season he laid turf on the second field and opened a soccer shop at the facility. The City of Schenectady saw what Afrim did with the Washington Avenue Armory and used his skills to solve the problems it was having with the Center City Sports Complex. The Complex had a regulation-size hockey rink and 800 seats. It was owned by the city, but no one used it. The city had been subsidizing the cost to maintain the building. In 1996, the cost became a Complex has even hosted a professional wrestling match with 1000 people in attendance. These alternative uses are encouraging, but Afrim insists it is necessary to make enough money during the busy six months to pay the bills and, if summer business comes, he's ahead of the game. How Afrim came to know what he knows about running an indoor sports facility stems from his athletic talent fiscal issue and the mayor formed a committee to deal with it. The first thing Afrim and the Center City Committee did was melt the ice from the hockey rink. Then they laid the turf. Because of its size, the facility has many uses. Games played here include lacrosse and flag football, which includes Schenectady's professional Arena Football team, the Firebirds. The Center City Sports Complex has hosted a karate show, a computer show, and a cat show. The and his social skills. If he had not played professional indoor soccer and needed a place to practice, if the New York Kick had not folded and its players had not wanted to continue the game, Afrim would not have called up his friends and teammates and asked them to come out and play. It was almost by accident. This is a man who enjoys playing the game and being a member of a community that finds fulfillment in indoor sports. Camaraderie is part of the reason G O A L I n d o o r • June-July 2002• 20 Center City Sports Complex, Schenectady, NY Afrim has succeeded. Another part of the reason is his education, but not in the traditional sense. He graduated from SUNY Albany with a degree in Social Psychology, which makes sense, as Afrim is quite a people person. This degree, however, did not prepare him for the business of indoor sports. He played professionally for more than five years and always returned to Albany during the off-season to run his business. As a player, Afrim knew what he needed to do in order to achieve his goals. To get good, he practiced hard. He learned to work toward what he wanted. When teams signed up to play at the Washington Avenue Armory and Afrim's hobby became a business, he looked at how other people ran indoor sports facilities. He drove around to different sites and asked a lot of questions. He figured out that he had to work hard, just like he did on the soccer field, to get what he wanted. Like on the field, his staff works as a team. The way they complement each other as a group makes the business work well. One of the staff members is his brother Skelly. Afrim asked Skelly to

• Cover