Utah Baseball Academy honing skills

SOUTH JORDAN -- Recently, the world of baseball has been nauseously plagued with news of steroids and performance-enhancing drugs.

Proof of cheating has dominated the news even before spring training began this month. Many have wondered why cheaters weren't exposed before now. Those who have admitted using steroids, particularly Jose Canseco, have said that because of these performance enhancers, they have not needed to work as hard off the field as those who play the game cleanly do.

Steroids allow these athletes to cut corners in their training and yet still be able to hit monstrous, crowd-pleasing, seat- filling home runs.

Parents who have children who play baseball are embarrassed that men they once rooted for with their kids and saw as heroes now are admitting their lies and laziness.

These same parents are promising their kids that if they work hard, practice hard and stay clean, they can be just as successful as these men without having to artificially enhance their bodies.

This is where the Utah Baseball Academy comes in.

The academy is a Sandy-based operation that focuses solely on helping young baseball players master the skills of America's pastime.

The academy has recently begun operating out of its new location at 10000 S. 389 West in South Jordan.

This new location is not only massive in size, but it is also filled with various tools and equipment that ballplayers can use to help them master their game. There are 15 indoor batting cages for both mechanical and live-throw hitting.

There is an enormous annex portion with a special surface flooring that is ideal for infield practice.

You will also find weight rooms, a Universal Athletic equipment store, pitcher's mounds with catchers targets and anything else an up and coming ballplayer might need.

"Its huge" says Jordan High baseball player Ben Gollaher, who was at the academy taking batting practice with his father. "There is a lot that you can do here."

The most interesting service that the academy has to offer is its three dimensional motion analysis system that has been utilized by players like Nolan Ryan, Tony Gwynn and Ken Griffey Jr.

Of this system, UBA's owner Bob Keyes says, "The foundation of our instruction is drawn from Bio-Kinetic, who for almost two decades has been compiling motion analysis research while working with some of the best players and coaches in Major League Baseball.

"Over 200 of our past participants have been drafted by major league organizations, and more than 1,000 have been recruited to play college baseball, including four national team members."

Teams that have used this system include the Angels, Royals and Mets.

The Utah Baseball Academy and its staff teach kids how to become successful ballplayers not by injecting a foreign substance into their bodies but by doing it the right way -- with hard work.

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