The facility is 16,000 square feet with five courts. Right now, Tian is renting the facility out to her volleyball club as well as the local Strikers FC youth soccer program. (Music by Travis Yost)
Tian Harrington, the director of the Zootown Volleyball Club, has just taken Missoula on a giant leap forward in terms of access to an indoor, year-round sports facility.
She recently opened "The Zoo," the Zootown Training Facility, inside a giant new warehouse at 9251 Bonner Mill Road in Bonner.
"I kind of eat, sleep and breathe volleyball, and so I wanted something like this just because I want to see volleyball continue to grow," she said. "And this was an opportunity where I thought we could have it for both youth and adults."
The facility is 16,000 square feet with five courts. Right now, Tian is renting the facility out to her volleyball club as well as the local Strikers FC youth soccer program.
"We're also open to renting out to other sports too," she said. "It's a big building, and we want to make it accessible. We have some adult tournaments that are going to be running in here, and then we also have our adult league. So we have youth volleyball and adult volleyball going on."
People are also reading... Business Buzz: Restaurant closes, agritourism grants, Humane Society benefit Vision for new western Montana lumber mill in works Missoula awarded $59.5 million grant for huge Russell Street rebuild project Former Montana Grizzly football player Joe Klucewich dies Billings gets green light to do emergency dredging work in Yellowstone River Lady Griz head coach Brian Holsinger taking leave from program Helena police ID driver who hit Missoula resident outside state Capitol; man's condition updated UPDATED: Fire breaks out at UM heating plant IRS is sending out automatic stimulus payments Updated: It's official - Butte-Silver Bow gets $20 million for new 'resilience hub' Arctic air predicted to bring subzero temps to western Montana 'For the sake of the nation': Tribal colleges revitalize language, culture City making progress on massive downtown Missoula street project 'It's what we do': Chief Mountain Hot Shots head to LA to fight fires Attempted homicide charges filed in St. Regis stabbing case
Harrington has been helped by Patrick Hiller, who founded the Zootown Volleyball Club.
"I grew up playing for Zootown Volleyball," Harrington recalled. "And we've always rented (space) from schools and kind of gone wherever we could. And just with the growth of volleyball in Missoula and throughout the United States, we're just kind of cramped for space. And so we've always had this idea and vision of a big building for volleyball where we don't have to compete with other sports."
They sort of stumbled on the opportunity to use a giant new warehouse at the former Bonner mill site. The giant property is owned by Bonner Property Development, a local company that's been bringing businesses like chocolate factories, breweries and other ventures to the area next to the Blackfoot River.
Harrington and Hiller started talking in late June last year with the Bonner mill site owners and just opened the facility a week ago, so it was a quick turnaround. Harrington and Hiller put in a specialized sport court flooring from a company in Great Falls and they've got removable nets so they can accommodate different uses.
Hiller, a longtime coach who was the Montana Coaches Association's Class AA volleyball Coach of the Year in 2021 while he was in Great Falls, said he's excited about the potential of the new facility to help develop players.
"That's kind of the goal is to always be able to walk in here and it's ready and set up," he said. "I'll tell you, that's the trick with Missoula County Public Schools (facilities). And it's not their fault, but there can be chairs and bleachers, there can be just stuff there. And the nice thing is we just show up here today and just, like, play."
Harrington was careful to make sure the building has exterior power so that food trucks can set up for tournaments. They expect that over 2,000 people might show up for some events, when you include family members, referees and players.
For more information, visit online at ztvolleyball.com.
David Erickson is the business reporter for the Missoulian.
0 Comments The business news you need
Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly.
Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. David Erickson
Business Reporter
Author twitter Author email Follow David Erickson Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today