Birds-eye view of Between the Lines Sports Campus in Listowel. Source: Ben Rothwell
If you’re an athlete of any kind, Between the Lines Sports Campus might just be your heaven. The indoor sports facility you never knew you needed is all the way out in Listowel, Ontario, and it has everything you’d imagine a cutting edge establishment in the city would have – and more. Kurtis Portengen, recreation and camp coordinator says it best.
“There is nothing else like it… it’s probably the only facility I have ever been in that’s got so many different parts without being an absolute monstrosity that’s in the city.”
Between the Lines is owned by Jill and Trevor Reading, who previously part-owned PlayBall Academy Canada in Kitchener, Ontario before deciding to bring a place where younger kids and seniors can enjoy the amenities closer to home and to an area hungry for indoor sports. The kids can have fun in weekly camps, while the seniors can play some badminton, pickleball or walk the track.
Although the Readings had some experience owning an indoor sports building, they’ve never started one from scratch, not to mention starting a new business during covid-19. They purchased the property in July 2019 and broke ground a few months later in October, but in March 2020, the first lockdown took place, halting their progression. It was a struggle, but the sports campus was finally able to open over a year later between the first and second phase of Reopening Ontario. According to Trevor, that was a good thing.
“People were looking for things to do in the fall… they had been locked down for awhile since March and basically moving forward they wanted somewhere to get out and do some activity, we had camps, we had a lot of people trying new things.”
Trevor kept an optimistic outlook, although he admitted that it was “definitely stressful” not being able to maximize what they do. Between the Lines is now open to the public and doing very well, despite still being somewhat restricted. The community loves the facility and many organized leagues now rent out the place for any given sport. Between the Lines is only in its infancy, and is already starting to make an impression on anyone who sets foot through the doors. Trevor was also adamant that Between the Lines is not a finished product, and they’ll adapt to any requests given by their customers. They have recently brought in a registered physiotherapist and a neuroscientist who specializes in biometrics that has a program called “See the Game”. The program is all about vision and improving cognitive ability.
“You always say when people come in, the first thing you want them to say is wow and I would say that a lot of people say wow, this is quite a spot”.
Check out Between the Lines Sports Campus if you want to be wowed.
Audio Player
Comments