New owners have a loftier vision for renovated Middletown sports complex
Jerry Smith
A decade ago, Daniel Duncan made the off-hand comment that his sons Steve and Michael would someday have their own sports facility called Coach Steve's.
The dream of the brothers coaching kids together was shattered In 2010 when Michael suddenly passed away after struggling with years of surgeries and pain following a 1996 motorcycle accident.
His memory will live on at a Middletown sports facility bearing his name.
Steve Duncan got a little emotional last week when he pointed up to a mural of his brother playing baseball on one of the walls at the new Slim's Sports Complex, which opened Monday and uses Michael's nickname.
Duncan said Michael was a great athlete in Glasgow and the Middletown-Odessa-Townsend area before playing baseball at Delaware Tech. After his death in 2010, a foundation called Slim's Chance was started to help kids who are not as fortunate as Michael's daughter Lexi, who was blessed with a loving, supportive family.
Out of the foundation grew the SC Bulldogs baseball organization, and that led to Steve wanting a bigger facility and opportunity to work with kids.
Slim's complex grew out of a business model that Scott Lobdell, Brian Laity and Brian Ellis – who opened the MTown Sports Complex on Middletown Warwick Road in the Westown area in 2012 – no longer thought worked at the location.
They had hoped to expand on Levels Road with an outdoor facility that promised 20 grass soccer fields, eight baseball fields, eight softball fields and a 142,500-square-foot one-story indoor recreation facility.
Six fields were eventually completed. But financial woes stalled work for months before they sold the Delaware Sports Complex to Dan Watson, who then declared bankruptcy.
Enter Steve Duncan and fiancé and business partner Carolyn “Sissy” Graham.
The opportunity to buy the complex came in January when the owner of the building reached out to Duncan and Graham.
"We didn't buy their business," Duncan said. "We essentially took over the space they were in and are starting from scratch our own business model."
While Duncan and Graham share a similar vision as the MTown owners to provide the M-O-T area with a venue where youth and adult sports leagues can play indoors throughout the year, they think the complex can be much more.
They have added a speed and agility space, better lighting and have now geared the facility to not only have fun but to train and prepare the high-end athlete looking to take a sport to the next level.
"Before this facility, there really wasn't anything south of the (Chesapeake & Delaware) canal where the higher-end athlete would come to train," Duncan said. "This was a fun place to come and play, but more of your serious athletes were going north to a couple of facilities up there."
Duncan said Slim's will offer athletes a chance to work with people who have collegiate or professional experience in baseball, soccer, lacrosse, field hockey and volleyball.
Slim's summer camps for youth ages 6-15 will include instruction in baseball, softball, soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, volleyball, football and tennis. Online registration is in progress.
Duncan said the biggest addition will be an outdoor component.
"We have two full-size athletic fields with freshly planted Bermuda grass specifically for field hockey, soccer, lacrosse and football use," he said. "We also will have a few outdoor grass volleyball courts this summer but plan to convert some to sand volleyball once the fields are ready."
Some of the parents who were watching their kids during a speed and endurance session Thursday night for one of the SC Bulldogs baseball teams like the changes and new vision.
"The biggest difference is going to be what is offered here," said Kristin Pierce, whose son Andrew was training at the facility. "There will be a lot more variety and a place for them to train in the winter."
Reach Jerry Smith at jsmith17@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JerrySmithTNJ.
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