Sports Connection earns Chamber honors for owners
By DENNIS KUTAC REPORTER

MCC/Dennis Kutac Ricky and Sylvia Root, owners of the Sports Connection have been named the 2008 Small Business Persons of the Year.

Ricky Root says the Sports Connection was his wife Sylvia's idea originally, but the two have worked to see that their business has something for all ages to do.

Now after nine years of expanding and adding activities, the Roots have been selected as the 2008 Small Business Persons of the Year by the Nederland Chamber of Commerce.

The Golden Triangle SCORE Chapter No. 521 will honor all regional Small Business Persons of the Year 2 p.m. May 14 at the John Gray Library on the Lamar Univer- sity campus.

The couple said their business started because they were real big on baseball and thought about opening some batting cages.

"We started with the batting cages and miniature golf the first two years and after that we just kept going," Sylvia Root said.

"We added something every year including go-karts, bumper boats, arcade, phazerzone, indoor paint less paintball and remote control boats."

The Roots said the Sports Connection, which has remained at it same location since opening, started with a 400 square foot office and after two expansions, the facility and grounds now cover 3½ acres of land.

"When we originally planned this venture we included go-karts and bumper boats, but neither of us thought it would get to this," Sylvia Root said.

"We started going to conventions and got a lot of new ideas. We also traveled and checked out other parks and looked into new technology being used."

They said in addition to that, their customers kept asking what was next and would listen to what they wanted.

"We try to do things for a wide range of ages. It's not just for kids but adults can come here too," Sylvia Root said.

"We have a good variety of entertainment and it is all family oriented. We can accommodate birthday parties, team parties, company picnics, church groups, family and class reunions and field trips"

The Sports Connection now has 17 employees, but during the summer that number increases to 25. In addition, the Roots also try to make sure that at least one of them is there to see that their customers have an enjoyable experience.

"One of us is usually here and we like to deal with customers personally. We listen to their ideas,"