WAIPAHU, Hawaii — Build it, the Los Angeles Dodgers figured, and the kids will come.
A month since the grand opening of the Dodgers Training Academy in an industrial pocket of West Oahu, that wager has paid off with a wide range of youths to pro hopefuls regularly taking advantage of the facility’s advanced equipment to work on areas like batting, fielding, pitching and catching.
“It’s been pretty busy. A lot of kids have been coming in, checking out the facility, utilizing it daily,” said Donny Kadokawa, director of Hawaii business development with DTA. “And it’s just good to see. The Dodgers created this so the kids can come and work out, and we’re just glad that they’re taking advantage of it.”
Upward of 50 people can simultaneously make use of various training stations in the building, like the batting cages with pitching and hitting tracking through HitTrax and Rapsodo technology. There is a weightlifting area, an open space for fielding work or demonstrations, and side rooms for yoga and stretching and recovery.
The 10,000-square-foot facility, refurbished and painted with Dodger blue during the pandemic, is known as “The Complex.”
There are slogans like “Trust The Process” and “Stay Committed” in a street art style painted on overhead beams. Dodgers insignias are everywhere.
“This place looked like a paintball battlefield when we took it over,” Kadokawa said. “But with a lot of the community support, we were able to make it happen. A lot of people donated their time, their companies, their kids. It wouldn’t be possible without everybody putting in their support.”
The work paid off and afternoons – their peak hours for kids – have tended to be busy, according to Kadokawa and General Manager Sam Bustillos. Ages of patrons range from 5 to adult.
There are also Dodgers Training Academies in Redondo Beach and Thousand Oaks in California. But Hawaii has always had a strong attachment to the franchise, and also has a bevy of young players with college and pro baseball aspirations, so it made sense for the franchise to lend its name here. DTA has about 10 local coaches certified as training partners of Major League Baseball. Softball is also an area of expansion.
While DTA has conducted camps around the islands in previous years, having a home base has made a huge difference, according to Kadokawa, 49, a former catcher at Mid-Pacific and Menlo College. He also is the founder of the youth development group Team Kado Baseball.
“We are going to open up specific position training here,” Kadokawa said. “We will run camps here, small group training for pitching, defense, catching, hitting. So, we will eventually have services on the field and in the facility.”
Upon entry, there are framed autograph jerseys and bats of three past Dodgers to participate in DTA training camps in Hawaii – Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson and Corey Seager.
“We’ve been fortunate to bring down some of their better players, and we look forward to keep bringing more this year,” Kadokawa said. His tie with the Dodgers goes back to when he was Pederson’s coach at Palo Alto High in California.
Besides the batting cages that can be reserved, 1-on-1 or group instruction is available from DTA’s coaches and can be arranged on its website.
The facility is also open for use for pro players to train. Among those to take advantage of it have been Rico Garcia and Kanoa Pagan of the San Francisco Giants organization, Bustillos said.
“We say we open it up to anybody, no matter what club affiliation or what team they’re involved with,” Bustillos said. “We welcome everybody with open arms, pretty much.”
Bustillos, a lifelong sports enthusiast from Kauai, got furloughed as a chef at the Four Seasons Resort at Ko Olina during the pandemic.
But he also has a passion for player development. One of his favorite areas of The Complex is the “wall ball” station for players to chuck baseballs against and work on their fielding on the ricochet.
The first of three sessions of DTA summer camps begins Tuesday and runs through Friday with locations at both Mid-Pacific Institute and Mililani. They are for boys and girls ages 7 to 13.
There are also summer camps July 5-8 and Aug. 1-4 at Mid-Pacific and June 6-9 and July 5-8 at Mililani.
DTA camps are official training partners with MLB. Each one is $325 per person ($275 for Hawaii residents). Participants receive a T-shirt.
The Dodgers Training Academy at 94-035 Leokane St. is open from 2 to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.