What started as an idea to expand the footprint of the Dugout Dolls in Niles, grew into an opportunity for partnerships between the Dolls and multiple local sports organizations in the Michiana Area. In the Spring of 2021, the Dugout Dolls opened the Edwardsburg Fieldhouse, a 21,000 square foot turfed facility, that serves as the nerve center for many teams and athletes.
Founded in 2011, the Dugout Dolls began with two former college athletes and a passion for sports education, after noticing a lack of female role models for young women in the community.
“We focus on providing positive, high-energy softball skills training in an eclectic environment,” says founders Trish Gardini and Amber Layman.
“Proper practice facilities can take programs from competitive to elite,” Trish Gardini says. “We wanted to finally give our booming area a proper training facility for elite athletes, giving them a chance to train 52-weeks a year, in a facility large enough to push them to the next level.”
For over a decade, the Fieldhouse has been a dream of the Dugout Dolls. Our Midwest winters are unkind to outdoor activities, and though their flagship ‘Dollhouse’ is located in Niles and they operate out of five other locations, the opportunity to serve Northern Indiana, Granger, and Michiana was one of their goals. They offer year-round group lessons in fastpitch softball and hitting, host several specialty clinics like Catching Academy, Defense Academy, and Slap & Speed, and have now expanded to area male athletes.
Opening the space during the pandemic brought uncertainty and hesitance, but those fears were proved wrong after just one year: the Fieldhouse is thriving. It is home to Dugout Summer Lessons, year-round tenants in Michiana Repetition Baseball and Softball, has held college-signing ceremonies, and hosts scouting companies that offer aid in building athletes’ recruitment profiles for college. Edwardsburg Little League and high school sports teams have also taken to the new venue.
The Dugout Dolls will send seventeen athletes from the class of 2022 to college on scholarships this year, and with a staff combining many members of the community with collegiate sports experience, like businessmen and women, retired policemen, and coaches, the curriculum is ever-changing and always growing.
“This is only the beginning of the boom of growth in this area,” Trish states. “Our local families are dedicated to the growth of the whole child: academic, athletic, and work ethic. I am beyond thankful that my own children will be able to grow up in a community this wonderful.”
The Edwardsburg Fieldhouse is modern and spacious, and offers Southwest Michigan and Indiana athletes the community, passion, and education they need to succeed. To find out more about the Dugout Dolls and their mission, or to register for programs and lessons, please visit dugoutdolls.com. Congratulations on year one, and many, many more!
By Jocelyne Tuszynski, MOTM contributor
