Baseball programs in the south and southwest part of the country refer to northern schools as snow birds. Our climate doesn’t afford a team the opportunity to practice year-round outside.

This year, however, the NIU baseball team has a distinct advantage over its fellow snow birds, and perhaps, opponents that hail from a warm climate.

The Huskie Indoor Training Center is a 9,800 square-foot indoor practice facility that houses four batting cages. Located southwest of the Convocation Center and in an old John Deere storage facility, NIU baseball coach Ed Mathey is excited for the potential positive impact the Center can impart on his team.

“I think our athletes really like to do what they are good at,” said Mathey, who is five wins away from becoming the all-time winning coach at NIU. “This practice facility is a chance for them to do that; they can get in there and take a break from their studying and decompress by taking some swings, and then get back to the books.”

The center is large enough for hitters to take live swings and for pitchers to throw live from the mound. The dual activity gives NIU a park not formerly held in the makeshift cages at the Campus Recreational Center.

For hitters, the facility is a dream come true. Mathey jokingly told new hitting coach Tom Carcione that the Huskies need to hit 40 points higher this season.

The baseball team stands to be better prepared for the season, and better ingrained socially with fellow athletes.

“Another great aspect is that our guys have some crossover with other sports now,” Mathey said. “They can communicate easily with the golfers and the softball players. There is a community created there where the student athletes can talk about the same issues and challenges that occur with academic and time management for a Division I athlete.”

For a team that played only 14 of its 58 games at home, any games lost to inclement weather would be devastating.

“If we hit bad weather while waiting for a game now, we’ve got some place to go that is an easy set-up and take-down,” Mathey said. “The facility isn’t heated, so we will still have to use the Rec sometimes. This facility is just another sign to any potential NIU student athletes that NIU makes every effort for its student athletes to have a world-class experience.”