GAMA Sports Training working on move into new $2.5M facility in Plum

A sports training facility in Plum is growing again.

Joe Fischetti hopes to move his family business, GAMA Sports Training, into a 27,000-square-foot home in September.

The new building would be at the end of Sheena Drive, a dead-end road off Davidson Road, where GAMA currently is housed in a building shared with Kapp’s Green Lawn.

GAMA has been operating out of half of a building for about three years, “but we’ve made it work,” he said.

“Now it’s time to upgrade a little bit and move on to something bigger.”

That building and the new one are both owned by Pugliano Realty. The area, Pugliano Business Park, also is home to Pugliano Construction.

The new building for GAMA is a $2.5 million project, said Angelo Pugliano, a partner in Pugliano Realty.

“We’re going to have a nice building for him,” Pugliano said.

The ground for the new building has been leveled and all of the steel for it is on-site, Pugliano said. They are just awaiting the needed borough permits to excavate the foundation and begin concrete work.

Plum Council is expected to take one of the first steps toward approving the project at its meeting Monday.

It will vote on accepting a plan to combine two lots owned by the Puglianos at the end of Sheena Drive to create enough room for parking, borough Manager David Soboslay said. The combined lot would be about 4 acres.

Fischetti and a former partner started GAMA in December 2018. The name came from the first two letters of Fischetti’s daughter’s name, Gabrielle, and the name of the former partner’s daughter, Madison. The business originally was located in a 1,000-square-foot space on Golden Mile Highway in Plum.

Now a partner with her father, Gabrielle is in charge of operations for GAMA. Fischetti’s son, Nino, does photo and video work.

Another partner, Chris Edmonds, played football at West Virginia University and for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2002 and 2003.

“He’s a big part of moving this thing forward with me as well,” Fischetti said.

At the start, they just did softball lessons — hitting, catching, speed and agility. Gabrielle was a softball player at Plum High School and in college.

“The story behind it is my daughter was going away to college,” Fischetti said. “Through the years of her playing and all of the coaches that had helped her succeed and get into college, I thought it was my turn to give back. I wanted to give back to these kids and give them the opportunity to go to school and play the sport that they love to play.”

GAMA’s current space is 5,000 square feet. Fischetti said they specialize in strength and conditioning, working with 40 athletes from around the area. They do personal training and coaching for runners while still offering baseball and softball lessons.

The new building will have about 22,000 square feet of turf with a 47-foot-high ceiling. A gym will be about 3,000 square feet, with the remaining 2,000 square feet housing offices, a physical therapist area, a party/conference room and restrooms.

There will be four drop-down batting cages. The turf will be lined for football but could be used for lacrosse, baseball, softball and other activities and sports.

While Fischetti said the business does a lot with sports groups in Monroeville, he is hoping to work more with those in Plum and other surrounding communities.

“We’re opening this huge facility. That’s why we’re doing it,” he said. “We want to give these organizations a chance to have somewhere to go in the winter and when it’s raining and bad weather.”

With the new facility, Fischetti said they’ll look to do new and bigger things they can’t do now, such as flag football, seven-on-seven football, an adult kickball league and clinics for football, baseball and softball.

“Where we are now doesn’t give us much room. It got us to where we are,” he said. “Now we need something bigger for the opportunities we have in front of us.”