This month Sports Academy hosted the first of what will be more than 30 basketball tournaments at its Thousand Oaks facility. The Alemany Basketball Super Fall Showcase, put on by Bishop Alemany High School in Mission Hills, drew a crowd of players, coaches, parents and fans to the courts where teams of freshmen through varsity competitors from more than 60 Southern California high schools squared off in the second annual event. Last year, the showcase drew about 2,000 people. Sports Academy’s basketball season runs from September through July and the tournaments it hosts includes youth leagues in addition to high school programs. For the 2016-17 season, the facility was home to 23 tournaments. So far for the current season, there are 30 tournaments that have been booked, with more expected. Shawn Berina, director of basketball, attributed the increase to teams and organizers knowing about the facility and the convenience to coming there rather than driving south to Anaheim, Garden Grove or other parts of Orange County. “More tournament organizers wanted to pull teams out in this direction or wanted to add more events geared toward teams in this area versus having always go to the same thing,” Berina said. Tournament rental costs vary based on how many event weekends the tournament director books. If a tournament director partners with Sports Academy, then there is no rental cost because the revenue is split, Berina said. There is a charge for admission and parking on tournament weekends, she added. Sports Academy opened in October last year and runs training programs for all ages and skill levels in basketball and other sports. The gymnasium area contains five indoor basketball courts, two sand volleyball courts, a short running track, a pitching mound and a workout room packed with stationary bikes, weights and fitness equipment. Surrounding the gym are medical offices and rooms with everything from X-ray scanners to cryotherapy chambers for freezing injured areas of the body. The staff is made up of trainers from top university sports programs locally and around the country, focusing heavily on basketball, football, beach volleyball, soccer, track and futsal, an indoor version of soccer. Berina, a Northridge native who played high school and college basketball, said that as for the business side, Sports Academy benefits from the tournaments because they bring in crowds consistently on weekends when the games are played. Also, local players and coaches can learn about what else Sports Academy offers, whether it’s individual training, open gym nights or the integrated sports medical clinic, Berina said. “It’s not just the one weekend,” she added. “It is a huge revenue-generating piece of our business for Sports Academy as a whole.” – Mark R. Madler