New Dayton-area location opened for youth sports

Mr. Comfort’s Sports Factory recently opened in a section of a warehouse at 325 N. Riverview Ave. in Miamisburg, offering turf field rentals for other teams, trainers, or individuals. It also provides individual and small-group foot-skill soccer training.

The new business is the work of Brandon Hurt and Charles Hoskins, two friends who grew up in Miamisburg and live there now.

Hurt said there are numerous reasons he and Hoskins took on the more than 5,000-square-foot space with a 50-foot-by-100-foot turf size, which he said is about the size of a basketball court and makes it regulation size for futsal games

“We are mainly focused on soccer but have a batting cage to allow for baseball trainings as well. However, we just want kids and adults to have a place to play,” he said. “The field could be used for lacrosse, football, ultimate frisbee or any other games people might like to use a turf field for.”

Hoskins and Hurt signed the lease on the space for Mr. Comfort’s Sports Factory in mid-October and had the place up and running in about a month.

“We went into it because of our love for the game and to provide an economical space for youth sports,” Hurt said. “We had talked about doing something like this for a few years. We grew up in Miamisburg, live in Miamisburg, so it made sense to stay in the town. In addition, we both have full-time jobs so we needed to stay close for this to make sense.

The business partners started looking around and found an ideal space within a factory near their homes, he said, and everything after came together “pretty quickly,” especially with the support of the community and some other local business owners willing to support their endeavor.

That includes Mr. Comfort Heating & Cooling, Felty Electric, and Treeline Landscaping, all of which contributed to helping get The Sports Factory up and running so quickly, Hurt said.

“When you spend hours traveling for your kids to play competitive soccer and baseball, having a place close to home is appealing,” he said. “In addition, I have been coaching and training several youth and high-school age kids over the past several years. During the bad weather days in Ohio, I discovered it is difficult to find space for these kids to train and continue to play.”

Hurt said he grew up playing competitive soccer and got to play four years of college with several international players. During his high school-age years, he traveled to Italy and experienced its culture.

“During my time there all the kids and myself would meet every night at a small field in their downtown and we would play 3-versus-3 (and) 4-versus-4 pick-up soccer,” he said. “It opened my eyes how small-sided soccer, like futsal, allows for players to develop such a good touch on the ball in tight spaces, as well as develop their creativity all while having fun playing.

“We wanted to provide a space that allows Dayton area players to have these type of experiences.”