Pro 3:5 Sports Academy in Raleigh reopens with new Phase 1 limitations amid COVID-19
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- As North Carolina slowly begins to reopen, so are some camps including PRO 3:5 Sports Academy in Raleigh.
"It's awesome," said one of the owners, Chad Doyle. "The laughter and the hooting and hollering, just seeing everybody. We see these people all the time, out in restaurants the grocery store, the baseball field, soccer field so these kids are like family to us. It's awesome to have them back see them again."
Stores slowly reopen during Phase 1, some choose to remain closed
Chad and his wife Kellie opened Pro 3:5 Sports five years ago, they describe it as PE class, recess and field day all mixed together.
"It's awesome, kids love it," he said. "They have a blast. They go home tired and we're tired by the end of the day but we love having the kids and playing all day. This year has been nothing like the others. Normally we would have 25 to 35 kids behind me here playing, running, having a good time and this year for the past five, six weeks now we've really had no one. It's been very difficult for the past several weeks."
"One of my favorite things about Raleigh is the sense of the community like Chad mentioned," Kellie Doyle said. "We see these kids out and about and feel like we are connected to them in a much bigger way besides providing them a place to play."
Pro 3:5 is starting with a soft opening of just 10 kids max, doing temperature checks, staying socially distant, giving kids their own equipment and sanitizing everything after each use.
"What we have discussed is talking about getting back to normal as quickly as we can," Chad Doyle said. "Especially as school starts to finish up and wrap up with the online school that way parents who will need all day long they will be able to send their kids all day."
"As an owner of a business when it's both of you, this is our only source of income it's really scary to be closed," Kellie Doyle said. "To not know when the end is coming so it's a huge relief to be able to open back up for financial reasons also."
Kellie said the support from the community and positive response from customers have been helpful during this process.
"We have had such a great response from the few parents we have seen this week the past three days," Kellie Doyle said. "Just so thankful to be able to have some place to send their kids. Even some of our neighbors, we see them outside with their kids and they're just exhausted, they're run rampant. It's hard. We've seen a huge positive response."
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