Photo courtesy of Colton McKee

By Scott Roblin

Open Again

Swanny’s Baseball and Training hopes re-opening starts domino effect

May 26, 2020 | 5:49 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – As the province continues to re-open in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, so too do businesses specializing in sports and recreation.

Although most leagues are still on hold, there are now opportunities to swing a bat in Medicine Hat following the opening of Swanny’s Baseball and Training on Tuesday.

Classified as a Stage 1 business in the province’s re-opening framework, Swanny’s opened its doors to the public after weeks of shutting down their batting cages and training facilities.

“I got probably three or four different texts from parents or even college kids that are back in town saying, ‘Can I do a lesson? Can I practice? Can I hit?’” said co-owner Kyle Swannack. “At the time I told them, ‘Just give us a second, we have to wait still.’ Once I kind of let them know, the flood gates have been open.”

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Swanny’s has started to hold small training sessions for players and have been taking increased measures to sanitize gear in 30 minute intervals between lessons.

By limiting the number of players in the netted areas at one time, Swannack said they’ve been able to keep physical distancing protocols in place.

“We only do one lesson at a time,” said Swannack. “We are making sure that as soon as players, parents, anyone that walks into the building know you can only bring a bat, glove, a helmet if you need it.”

Swannack has received interest from American Legion and high school players who have since seen their spring and summer seasons cancelled wanting to keep their skills up to date during the pandemic.

He’s also hopeful that others in the sports and recreation business community will be able to stay open if local leagues aren’t allowed to go ahead in the coming months.

“We’re all following it very closely and just keeping the place clean, ready, and sanitized for when we could have opened,” said Swannack. “I’m happy where we’re at now where hopefully by the end of the week we’re seeing more things opening up for baseball, softball, for sports and rec.”

Swanny’s will be hosting it’s first full practice on June 5 with the Emeralds Softball team, however they will still be abiding by Alberta Health’s limit of gatherings of less than 15 people.