WICHITA — Barry Newell plans to keep his day job as an assistant principal at Bishop Carroll, but he’s starting a new business, too.
Rangers Baseball Academy opens Monday at 3732 N. Ohio, which is between Hydraulic and Broadway, just south of I-235.
The 10,000-square-foot indoor facility will help kids ages 8 to 18 improve their games.
“I’ve been in baseball for a long time,” Newell says.
Shocker Hall of Famer Jason Adams, who used to play in the Houston Astros organization, is Newell’s partner in the venture.
Adams is a postal worker, but Newell says the plan is for him to eventually work at the academy full time.
Newell has been a guest instructor for the Kansas City Royals and the Toronto Blue Jays, he’s a scout for the Texas Rangers, he’s coached college baseball and is involved with Walter Johnson League Baseball.
“I was wanting to expand on that,” Newell says.
The academy will videotape players and then show them how they can improve their hitting or pitching or any other aspect of their game.
Newell named the academy partly for the Texas Rangers and partly for the Park City Rangers, his Walter Johnson League team.
“It just all kind of fit together.”