MOSES LAKE – As high school sports kick off this weekend, that means summer athletics is officially coming to an end. Local athletes all over the Basin have spent their summer playing in leagues like the Central Washington Sixers program.  

“If you have aspirations to be a collegiate athlete in whatever sport you're playing, you got to do it a lot because if you're not doing it, your competition is ... sports have become so centralized now, like it's almost like, gone are the days the three sport athlete, it seems like every sport now is year round,” The SIX Athletic Training Facility founder Ryan Doumit said.  

Doumit opened the training facility home to the Sixers baseball and softball program five years ago, he said. From his perspective, too many athletes were going elsewhere to invest in offseason training rather than staying local. Resources like The SIX were not as vast as they might be on the west side of the state, he said.  

As they go through their weekend tournaments in the summer, the wins and losses are not valued as much as player development, he said. For any athlete who wants to attract the attention of college programs in any sport, investing in the offseason is crucial in today's world.  

“I think that no matter how talented you are, you can't just roll out of bed and be great at (a sport), like you can have some natural talent, sure, but there still has to be that sweat equity that you put into things to help hone your craft,” Doumit said.  

Former Mavericks baseball player Cooper Hancock has played summer ball for years in addition to playing for the varsity team. He said there was a point where some of his teammates were ahead of him talent-wise. However, when he began playing summer ball and training with The SIX, he saw drastic improvements. He believes summer ball is all about logging innings.  

“It's all about development and getting those games and those innings. If I didn't play summer ball, I probably wouldn't have made varsity, if I’m being honest,” Hancock said.  

He credited The SIX for having the local resources that could not only help with player development but also prepare for things like college recruitment. The facility has coaches with experience in collegiate play, coaching and playing in the MLB, Hancock said.  

He said his senior season last spring was one of his best statistically. Not only does he work with The SIX through the summer, but the winter, too. As his high school career progressed, baseball became a year-round investment like Doumit said.  

“If I didn't train, I might have had a good year, maybe a little bit better. But this year, I really honed my offseason pitches with training and the summer training because of that,” he said.  

Othello Huskies baseball Head Coach Sonny Garza said he has seen the impact of offseason training as well.  

Garza also coached the Sixers 10U team this summer and will move up to coach the 11U team next summer. The investment in training at The SIX has translated to the quality of play on the local varsity teams. He has noticed an improvement in pitching, he said.  

“They don't get opportunities to throw much indoors. But having a facility like that helps to develop and strengthen their arm, or allow them to keep the strength of their arm that they've kind of had throughout the spring over the off-season, so they don't fall a couple steps behind when it comes to pitching and throwing,” Garza said.  

Garza said he tells his players to take advantage of local training options like The SIX or other summer athletics programs. He said during the regular season for varsity sports, they spend more time on smaller development strategies since there is not as much time on their hands. As they continue into offseason training, they focus more on bigger development strategies.  

“I try to tell kids we do have specific seasons for sports, but most sports need to be practiced or developed throughout the whole year so that you continue to refine those skills. The one thing I think this really helps is that they're continuing to refine those skills that they worked on throughout the spring in those off-season months,” Garza said.  

Baseball leads as an example for the greater topic of player development. Other sports like softball, football, soccer and many more have their own offseason leagues where athletes can invest in their development. The Quincy Jacks summer baseball team just had its first season this summer.  

Garza said it's important that more local athletes start to take advantage of the resources he did not have when he was growing up in Othello.  

“Now that it's here, we really got to utilize it and take advantage of it so that we can give our kids the best opportunity to succeed once they get to that middle school and high school level,” Garza said.  

    Inside The SIX Athletic Training Facility which opened in 2020. Founder Ryan Doumit said the days of three-sport athletes are mostly gone and now they train year-round for their respective sport.
  

    Defenders for the sixth-grade Junior Mavericks go in for a tackle against Richland last season. Junior Mavs football is another opportunity for young local athletes to get involved with their sport.
  

    The Jacks summer baseball team gathers for a team photo. The Jacks completed their first summer season since before the pandemic in 2019. The team was organized by Cami Kukes, a parent of high school players Caleb and Kade Kukes.