With school out of session, Catcher’s University in Katy will mark its fourth summer training baseball players of all ages.

Owner Jeff Wilson said he got the idea to start offering catching instruction while attending his son’s baseball games. He was a catcher from age 7 and as a college player.

“I kept noticing out on the fields that players were just being thrown behind the plate as a catcher and without any training whatsoever,” Wilson said. “I just thought, that’s not right. Somebody’s going to get hurt.”

Catcher’s University started as a mobile business in February 2013 and traveled to The Woodlands, Sugar Land and other towns.

“The word spread so quickly it just got out of hand,” Wilson said of the demand for his training.

The company moved into its 6,000-square-foot facility at 5018 East 5th Street, Katy, on July 15, 2015. Catcher’s University also offers pitching, hitting and fielding instruction, but Wilson said the training for catching is different from the training for other field positions.

Wilson called the catcher the “manager of the field” but said the position typically does not get as much attention as pitchers or other players. His training for catchers, which includes tee ball and softball as well as baseball, emphasizes focus, player stance and communication with the pitcher.

Safety is also a primary concern for his nearly 325 students, who range in age from young children to some in their early 20’s, Wilson said.

“A lot of these pitchers nowadays, because of the amount of work and instruction these pitchers are taking, they’re throwing at higher velocities,” Wilson said. “And the catchers have got to be able to recognize these balls and adjust, drop to their knees and block.”

Among Wilson’s staff of five, pitching instructor Stephen Nikonchik said the catcher must help a pitcher stay calm.

“Baseball’s one of those sports you can’t go out there and hit somebody, or tense up or be more aggressive with it,” he said.  “You actually have to be more relaxed.”

Softball instructor Cassidy Bowen said she teaches most of the same lessons as the baseball instructors, except that softball pitches are thrown differently.

Tucker Hathorn, 14, of Rosenberg practices hitting at Catcher’s University.[/caption]

“So your blocking and framing become a little bit different because of the trajectory that the ball’s coming from,” she said.

Catcher’s University is looking to expand and has talked with Brammer’s Athletic Warehouse across the street. Steve Brammer, owner of Brammer’s and BAW, said nothing has been finalized but that once the wholesale side relocates, about 16,000 square feet of space will be left in their existing building at 5017 East 5th St.

Wilson envisions a “college campus” atmosphere at Catcher’s University, with multiple buildings for players and instructors to move between practice cages, a weight room, classrooms, a retail center, a video editing suite for highlight reels, and even a college recruitment office.

“We try to help the boys right on into college,” he said.