Compete BP builds community of young hitters, pitchers
Area youngsters with a passion for baseball are finding a training oasis tucked away in the Mockingbird Central shopping center.
Founded and run by Tommy McElroy and his son-in-law Franco Broyles (nicknamed after his legendary grandfather and Arkansas Razorbacks coach Frank Broyles), Compete BP is a membership-based indoor sports complex focused on player development through technology, professional coaching, and a focused environment with batting cages and a players’ lounge. It offers private lessons, group training, and specialized sessions for hitting, speed, and agility.
“Coaching has always been in my background,” said Broyles, who got out of baseball after several injuries in college. “Two lessons led to five, and five led to 10. And this was really a secondary gig. Then we hosted the trials for our team and 60, 70 kids showed up. We had five or six teams that first year, called the Texas Travelers. That’s now grown to 18 or 19 teams.”
Of the first class that went into high school this past year as freshmen, 55 of 58 made their high school team.
“We got a big endorsement from Chris Young,” McElroy said of the general manager of the Texas Rangers. “His son is a member here. This past spring, Joc Pederson and Corey Seager showed up here to train. We also train two nights a week at Scotland Yard.”
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Compete BP offers training camps all summer, often the most convenient and enthusiastic time for baseballers ages 8 to 15, with younger kids usually scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon and older players 1 to4 p.m. Hitting and pitching clinics feature visiting specialized coaches.
“Sometimes we’ll have camps up to 20, but most of the time they’re still a little more intimate, five to 10,” Broyles said “They’re still getting good attention with the coach. Kids like the one-on-one attention.”
The first two coaches hired were Highland Park baseball players, McElroy said. “I went to Highland Park, and my two daughters and son; my son played there.”
McElroy and Broyles are in the middle of determining whether to duplicate Compete BP up north at Stonebriar Centre.
“That’s on the table,” McElroy said. “It’s twice the size of this space, and it’s Frisco (43 elementary schools, 1 intermediate school, 18 middle schools, and 12 high schools.) My fear is that we have to find another Franco.”
But the Mockingbird location is bustling, with its seasoned coaches, HitTrax hitting simulators, Blast Motion sensors for swing analysis, keypad entry for extended hours access, and big-league friends, the jerseys of whom adorn the walls — Smith, Neal, Smyly, Reynolds, Chinea. Yet, for all the technological advancements, it always comes back to the love of America’s pastime.
“What’s special about this place is the community that’s being built around baseball, the camaraderie with the coaches,” Broyles observed. “Everybody’s here to get back to the game. To me, it’s more than just a batting cage — the families that are coming in, people getting to know each other, the kids working and training together from different schools — it’s really encouraging to see.”
