Champions of Tomorrow building field house

State-of-the-art facility due to open in September

‘‘Our philosophy is that we want to have every kid that wants to, to play at any level,” said Ries, 37. ‘‘But, if you want to go through the steps and aspire to play in college, you will have the opportunity to do so.”

Now, she is close to being able to offer the club’s teams a permanent home. The Champions of Tomorrow Field House is scheduled to open in Rockville on Labor Day weekend. Its purpose is to satisfy the year-round needs of its athletes.

‘‘This is the next phase of indoor playing,” said Ries, now the girls varsity lacrosse coach at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High, her alma mater. ‘‘The first couple places open up with the concept of taking sports inside, and this is taking it to the next level. Sports shouldn’t be held back or governed by scheduling or the ability to play sports year-round.”

Champions of Tomorrow teams currently practice all over the county. In its previous 10 years, it often ran into problems because of that. The field hockey program might be practicing in one part of the county, and the lacrosse teams in another.

Even two teams within the same sport, such as the U-14 and U-16 girls volleyball squads, might be in two different gyms at the same time. Any continuity and crossover in Champions of Tomorrow’s programs was lost.

The challenge has been to find land in Montgomery County to call home. When space across from the Rockville Ice Arena and Rockville Sportsplex became available for lease on Southlawn Court, Ries moved forward. Using personal funds, she came up with 51 percent of the construction costs, while private investors made up the rest.

‘‘This was the hardest thing to line up,” Ries said last week, as she gestured to a construction crew working on the 46,000-square-foot complex.

‘‘Although, the whole time that we were building there was the concept that this project would become easier,” Ries continued. ‘‘Once the actual structure was there, the coaching piece came together. We could see who was really interested in a place to call home.”

As the field house goes up, the second piece of Ries’ vision is falling into place. Not only will the Champions Field House offer top-notch facilities — two Fieldturf fields, two sports courts, two batting cages, two pitching mounds and a multi-purpose training room, among other amenities — it will offer, in her estimation, top-notch coaching.

Good Counsel soccer coach Jim Bruno and lacrosse coach Mike Haight came aboard, as did soccer coach Devin Payton, a Magruder graduate who is the director of the Magic Futsal League and Magic Santos Futsal Club. Also joining the organization are Quince Orchard volleyball coach Karen Jones and baseball coach Jason Gasaway.

Gasaway will direct the Champions of Tomorrow baseball program, signifying a shift in the philosophy of the club. Now, Champions of Tomorrow is open to boys, as well.

‘‘This was a fantastic opportunity,” said Gasaway, The Gazette Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2006. ‘‘I had worked at some of the other hitting facilities in the county, but I always wanted the chance to do my own thing. A lot of other places focus on solely either hitting or pitching, but here we have the space to work on the overall game of baseball.”

That ability to teach is what brought other coaches to the Field House. Haight, The Gazette girls lacrosse Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2007, leads the program’s lacrosse team, the Jackals.

‘‘We’re going to have tournaments here,” Haight said. ‘‘We’re going to have a league where we will have all the best teams come in, including the private schools.

‘‘But we will also have JV leagues, a youth league and a middle school league,” he said. ‘‘If you want to compete against Baltimore that’s when they have to start to play.”

Champions will offer a plethora of sports at the Field House, and the crossover of athletes, as well as the crossover of ideas between coaches, is what Ries hopes will make the Field House unique.

‘‘It is not that common for coaches to team up with other coaches from other sports,” she said. ‘‘This group is doing it because they are trying to get a home and get the benefit of working together. We’ve been seeking out people who would help us build this and be steadfast. It provides them a home base because it is difficult to have this career without a place to call home.”