FILLING A NEED SUMMERWOOD SPORTS PROVIDING

MUCH-NEEDED OUTLET

By Mark Carter

Summerwood Sports’ calendar was filling up even before it opened in Bryant earlier this summer. Opened by brothers Doug and David Hendrix Sr., who recently sold their Central Arkansas Big Red convenience-store franchise, Summerwood is becoming a go-to destination for AAU and club basketball and volleyball teams. Summerwood Sports represents the Little Rock metro’s first athletics complex of its kind.

The facility currently has two full-sized gyms for basketball and volleyball and has developed into something of a home court for AAU outfits like the Arkansas Hawks. The facility’s grand opening weekend featured a hoops jamboree with Hawks teams from different age groups taking on regional squads.

Summerwood had been on the radar of the Hendrix brothers, Saline County lads who grew up loving and playing sports, even before they sold Big Red. The facility was named for Big Red’s parent company, itself named for the street in Benton on which the boys grew up.

The brothers worked with the city to plan Summerwood, and now own 31 acres off Bryant Parkway on which they plan to expand. The hope is that Summerwood might spark a string of dining and entertainment options nearby.

“We’re pleased and grateful for the response we have received from our community thus far,” Doug Hendrix said. “We have had much interest in our facilities and are excited to continue to expand.”

That expansion, already on the draw- ing board, will include two new gyms, each capable of holding roughly 1,500. Also being considered are plans for baseball, softball and soccer fields, said Emily Bradford, the Summerwood facility manager and jack of all trades. She does a little bit of everything at the Summerwood gyms, from front office work to running the scoreboards to sweeping the floors.

“We want to be a resource for all of Central Arkansas, but especially for the Saline County community,” she said.

In addition to AAU and club ball, the Summerwood gyms are available to be rented out for special events and school functions. And local high school teams use the facility as well, including the Benton High boys basketball team, coached by another Hendrix — Dexter, son of David. Dexter even hosted youth basketball skills camps open to the public on Sundays throughout June and July.

“Our schools have such awesome facilities but they’re so busy with school activities,” he told Fox 16. “To have another place to practice, host games, host camps, basketball volleyball, is just something I think the community has really needed and now they have the opportunity to come here and do it.”

Bryant Mayor Allen Scott, not surprisingly, was happy to work with the Summerwood group on the project.

“The Hendrix family has been integral to Bryant and Saline County for years,” he said. “When they owned the Big Red stores, they supported local organizations financially and in other ways. Now that they have started Summerwood Sports, they are still contributing. They have constructed a state-of-the-art complex for teams to play volleyball and basketball in Bryant. This will draw people from all over Central Arkansas to Bryant. It will help Bryant and Saline County become a driving force in developing skilled players in volleyball and basketball. I am extremely happy that they continue to be vital members of Bryant and Saline County.”

Bradford said Summerwood checks a much-needed box for Central Arkansas athletes. That may apply especially to kids from Little Rock proper, where facilities are lacking. Bradford expects to draw from all over the region.

“There’s been a lot of interest,” Bradford said, noting that many Little Rock basketball club teams are making the short drive to use the gyms. “And we would expect the same thing with baseball, softball and soccer, if we add those sports.”

Already this summer, Summerwood hosted a Memphis Grizzlies youth basketball summer camp, and a shooting camp led by former Hog great and current Oklahoma City Thunder player Isaiah Joe, was scheduled for Aug. 12.

Summerwood’s two gyms take up but a slice of the 31-acre property that soon will house two more gyms and multiple baseball, softball and soccer fields. Construction on the new gyms is expected to begin in the next few weeks.