10
l
l
ast fall, Fore Kicks opened its third and biggest
facility in Taunton, Massachusetts. Though the
facilities have a lot in common, each has its unique
features.
One feature that differentiates them is their size. The
first facility opened in Norfolk in 2002 with a 85,000
square-foot indoor sports complex. The Marlboro
facility opened six years later. "We had to test the
model," says President Tom Teager. The Marlboro
facility is 135,000 square feet. The newest facility in
Taunton is 180,000 square feet. Ground breaking for a
fourth, even bigger, facility will take place next year.
The facilities get bigger and bigger. "In our area,
demand still exceeds supply," says Tom. "We're finding
that the market expands as we build facilities."
At Fore Kicks, indoor sports are only a portion of the
programming. The facilities also have outdoor fields.
The Norfolk facility has a lighted, par 3 golf course.
The Marlboro facility has two lighted turf fields. The
Taunton facility has four lighted turf fields.
The Taunton facility also has an indoor inflatable
park. How was it decided that the Taunton facility
should have something so different from the
other facilities? Tom doesn't want to call it
a "gut feeling," which he describes as "a
summary of your experiences," but he
did sense that the facility needed
a way to occupy the "hundreds of
young kids running around the
facility while their brothers and
sisters are playing." He talked
to other facility operators, like
don crowe, owner of the arena
sports facilities in Washington,
three of which house a FunZone
Indoor Inflatable Playground.
Also, in 2010, Tom was able
to get a first-hand look at
chicago sports Zone and at its
inflatable playground while taking
part in the facility bus tour at
USIndoor's annual conference.
learned from facility president Brian
Norfolk,
Marlboro,
aNd TauNToN,
MassachuseTTs
