Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonathan Hobdy.
Hi Jonathan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself and your business.
I’m a retired U. S. Air Force Senior Master Sergeant. I’ve been married for 28 incredible years to my high-school sweetheart and am the proud father of four amazing children (Anne, Emma, Sarah, and Harrison). I was in the Air Force for 24 years as a computer network administrator. Thanks to our military time, our family lived overseas for 21 years in Japan, England, and Spain. While in the military, I represented my squadron and my Air Force base in baseball or softball tournaments all over the world. I was fortunate enough to have played baseball or softball in 11 different countries across three continents. Upon leaving the military, I ran a cybersecurity company for six years but never kept my eye off my goal of having a business built around my passion for my favorite sports: baseball and softball.
Top Gun Batting Cages is a culmination of a lot of hard work in the pursuit of my baseball dream. Not many people my age get to “do baseball and softball” for a living, but I have been blessed to have reached my goal of doing what I love.
As a lifelong baseball/softball player-turned-coach, I noticed a void in our area for an indoor baseball/softball training facility. So, along with two of my friends, Scott Arterburn and Kevin Huber, we built the best indoor batting cage center in Maryland. Top Gun Batting Cages, located in Sykesville/Eldersburg, is central Maryland’s finest indoor baseball/softball training facility. The 21,000-square-foot facility comprises nine training tunnels, a pitching/fielding room, brilliant LED lighting, and state-of-the-art equipment. Top Gun is “the place” for private instruction, team practices, training classes, day camps, summer camps, and more.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road to Top Gun Batting Cages’ success has been pretty smooth, but also took a lot of hard work, team work, and listening to our clients. We have really been embraced by the community we serve. From Baltimore and Reisterstown to the east, from Westminster to the north, from Frederick to the west, and from Ellicott City and Columbia to the south, our customers come to Top Gun – Sykesville because we care.
We listen to our customers, and we design programs that meet their needs. Customers have prompted us to start such programs as virtual training, learning pods, a kickball league, school’s out day camps, and several others. We are also fanatical about cleanliness, and parents notice – many drive 15-plus miles farther to visit Top Gun – Sykesville for that reason alone.
Our biggest obstacle, like many other small businesses, was enduring at 90-day mandated closure due to COVID-19, as well as the understandable hesitancy of clients to start coming back to indoor baseball and softball training. But, we survived! In fact, we were considering opening a second location before the pandemic, and we are now on the hunt for the ideal location of Top Gun 2.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Top Gun Batting Cages?
Top Gun Batting Cages will never stop striving to be central Maryland’s finest indoor baseball/softball training facility. Top Gun is “the place” for private instruction, team practices, training classes, day camps, summer camps, and more.
What sets us apart is our amazing stable of instructors. Our team of instructors ranges from very high-level high school players to current/former college players and professional baseball players. They are an incredibly diverse group of individuals with a heart to teach the game they love.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
The family entertainment and sports industry is definitely a stable, growing industry. It’s amazing to see the smiles on the faces of the next generation as they enter the cage for the first time at ages as young as four or five years old. Stop by and see for yourself!
Contact Info:
- Email: jon@topgunball.com
- Website: www.topgunball.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/topgunball/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TopGunBall/
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/topgunball
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYlwoD498ovGT8i6SzJNXiQ
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/top-gun-baseball-academy-sykesville
