Cuddyer's 10-year-old dream coming to fruition - with help from friends

VIRGINIA BEACH

THEY ARE BUILDING a building. But beyond that, they're deepening roots.

Local major leaguers Michael Cuddyer and B.J. and Justin Upton - and their new business teammate, Ryan Zimmerman - could take their millions and go live behind gates. Maybe emerge now and again to sign autographs, for a price.

Many athletes in their gifted and gilded shoes do that. These guys do not.

These guys want to train for their seasons in front of you, even beside you, at the 40,000-square-foot indoor sports facility they plan to build near the Virginia Beach Sportsplex.

They want their conditioning programs to be your conditioning programs. They want to teach. They want young athletes, not just baseball players, to come watch, learn, improve, grow and heal inside the walls of their planned Seven Cities Sports Complex - estimated arrival early '09.

No, it won't be a 24-hour free buffet. It will be a fee-based business, of course - except if you truly can't afford the fee. That's where their charitable foundation comes in.

The players' money, through scholarships, will help send deserving kids to college. First, though, it will help bring kids under their influence, into the clinics they want to run and the programs they want to offer.

A decade ago, when he was drafted in the first round out of Great Bridge High School, Cuddyer had a dream. This is it.

"As I've mentioned many, many times, so many people have helped me get to where I am that I feel, not obligated, but a sense of duty to provide that to the youth around here," said Cuddyer, 28, an outfielder for the Minnesota Twins.

Tuesday night, the Beach city council green-lighted the sale of seven acres off of Landstown Road for $875,000 to Seven Cities Sports, a group headed by Cuddyer, the Uptons and former major leaguer Tim Hummel, who played at Old Dominion. Zimmerman signed on recently.

Wednesday, Cuddyer and Hummel appeared at a media session at a Town Center law office to discuss the project; the Uptons checked in briefly via conference call.

They spent much time describing a vision of young athletes training for various sports in a two-story indoor facility the size of two soccer fields.

Of athletes, and not just local ones, using the complex's resources to reach what Hummel called "their next level," be it JV to varsity, high school to college or beyond.

One grand for-instance: Cuddyer hopes to lure college football players from all over to prep for the NFL combine at his "mecca" of physical and mental training.

That would be satisfying. The gratifying part will be providing opportunity to kids who normally couldn't dream of private tutoring.

"The foundation actually is a priority," said Hummel, who added that the Uptons' father, Manny, would likely oversee that aspect of the operation. "If somebody's out there who just, there's no way he'd be able to come, come talk to us. We're gonna work that out.

"We're gonna make sure this is available to all athletes, regardless of what they can and can't afford. That was the priority for Michael, B.J. and Justin. Without it, they wouldn't be doing this."

It's a big plan, a big dream, a comprehensive, "one-stop" training site, Hummel said. Is the demand for personal training endless? The pockets of parents seeking sports glory for their children bottomless?

We'll see how it goes. A similar project was announced by another group a few years ago, and vanished. The personal investment here, though, makes this one different, provides a chance.

Cuddyer and his famous friends are out front, clear in their goal. They've put their names and faces to it. Presence and credibility are valuable things.

Tom Robinson, (757) 446-2518, tom.robinson@pilotonline.com