Adobe stock image | The Clubhouse, which opened in January 2025 near Downtown Fresno, has seen strong demand from athletes across Fresno County in its first year of operation.
More than one year after opening near Downtown Fresno, The Clubhouse, an athletic training facility designed for baseball and softball, is seeing strong demand and growing community support with potential plans to expand.
The facility is located in the industrial area southeast of Highway 41 at 220 M St. When it opened in January 2025, the goal was to give local athletes a place to train year-round.
Part-owner Jacob Garcia said that the response from the community has exceeded expectations.
“It’s honestly a dream come true,” Garcia said. “Exactly what we set out to do has basically been accomplished.”
One of the biggest successes so far has been connecting with students from across Fresno, especially from schools in the inner-city that lack access to advanced training facilities.
“That was our goal — reaching all the county schools and giving people the opportunity to see what an advanced facility looks like and what it takes to get to the next level,” Garcia said.
Community support has been the biggest surprise to Garcia over the first full year. Baseball and softball communities are highly connected and word-of-mouth recommendations have helped bring athletes through the doors.
Garcia has also seen a generational shift, with some of his former classmates now bringing in their children to train.
“I’ve got people I went to high school with who have kids now, and they’re bringing their kids in,” Garcia said. “That’s been really cool.”
The Clubhouse opened with plans to include additional amenities beyond baseball training, including a golf simulator, therapy space and a nutrition bar. Garcia said some of those plans evolved as the business grew. They added the nutrition bar and recovery room but scrapped the golf simulator in favor of a motion capture biomechanics room, which helps analyze athletes’ movements to help improve mechanics and mobility.
“It actually worked out for the better,” Garcia said. “We can really look at an athlete’s movement and use that to help them get into better positions.”
They also work with several area schools and teams, including Washington Union, Roosevelt, Central and Fowler high schools. The Fresno A’s, a summer college baseball team, has also trained at the facility.
Local college programs have also supported the business. Garcia said athletes from Fresno State softball and Fresno City College baseball have trained at the facility.
Some Fresno State students are even completing internships, where they assist with tasks such as website development and internal operations.
The biggest challenge thus far has been space limitations. The Clubhouse operates out of an 8,000-square-foot building, and demand for training sessions and memberships can sometimes exceed capacity.
“We’re just trying to do our best to accommodate everybody,” Garcia said. “That’s definitely the biggest challenge.”
To address the issue, The Clubhouse is looking at a potential expansion into its neighboring building. If that were to happen, the facility would add approximately 6,000 square feet, bringing the total to around 14,000 square feet.
Garcia added that the Downtown Fresno industrial area location was originally a concern when they first launched, but it has ultimately worked out well as the surrounding area has seen development.
“There’s a new business across the street now, and we haven’t had any issues,” Garcia said. “It’s honestly just been amazing.”
For Garcia, the facility represents more than just a training center. It’s an opportunity to give local athletes the resources he didn’t have growing up.
“This is something I always wanted as a kid,” Garcia told The Business Journal in 2024, prior to the opening. “Being able to offer other people that opportunity is really exciting.”