In the Community: Diamond Edge Academy
Sam Zagorac, Owner
by Stephen Miwa
The best businesses are those built around great people, and that is exactly what Sam Zagorac is doing with Diamond Edge Academy. Sam is a baseball and softball coach, and instructor entering his 21st year in the profession. Originally starting on the amateur side at the high school level, Sam worked all the way to the professional level working with the Chicago White Sox for several years. After this time Sam decided that he wanted to open his own facility, which would be unique compared to the others available in the market.
“Being around and working out of different facilities over the last twenty years, I had a vision of making a “one stop all” facility that encompasses not only the athletic side of instruction, but also incorporating the academic, physical fitness, and healthcare sides as well,” says Sam. Imagine a facility where athletes ranging from professionals to elementary aged children can come and go into an academic center and receive tutoring and test preparation if they are students. After spending time in the academic center, they grab their gear and head to the cages to spend time hitting, fielding, or pitching. Once that session is complete, they head into the sports performance center where they can work on strength and conditioning, speed and agility, nutrition and recovery, or injury prevention and rehabilitation. This is everything that Sam is getting all under one roof in Diamond Edge’s 59,000 square foot facility.
Sam explains that there have been phases with the opening of the academy. Phase one was to get the baseball and softball section up and running, which was completed in late 2015. Phase two has been to build out the sports performance center which includes not only your standard workout facility, but also physical therapy, chiropractic work, a recovery room, and a golf academy. Achieve Sports Medicine is the physical therapy provider, with therapists Gina Pongetti, Courtney Dynes and athletic trainer Kevin Morris helping the athletes at the facility. Dr. Terry Smith with All Sports Medicine is the chiropractor that Diamond Edge is excited to bring in with his background in competitive weightlifting and CrossFit. Mike Mandakas with Elevation Sports is the director of the golf academy and has 15 years of experience in the field. This phase of Diamond Edge’s development is almost complete as the finishing touches are being made. Then the focus will turn to phase three- the academic center.
The academic center at Diamond Edge is much more than a room where a student can sit and do schoolwork before going to the cages. The academic center will have tutors to help students, test preparation, Vision and Reaction training, and a neuroscientist. Students will have an amazing space to do schoolwork and make sure that their academics are in line. Former National Hockey League player, Dr. Ross McKay will be heading up the vision and reaction training which is amazing for not only baseball and softball players, but for athletes playing a variety of sports. Dr. Demetrios Patos with NeuroSportZone will be working with athletes to fine tune their brain timing. Sam is working hard to get phase three’s implementation complete so that all aspects of Diamond Edge are up and running.
With Diamond Edge’s accumulation of top professionals in their fields, Sam plans to take his “one stop all” vision and turn it into the top training facility in the Midwest. Expansion to new locations and making Diamond Edge into a national brand is one of Sam’s goals, but he knows that all that relies on the success of this first location. He lives by the idea of gathering great people to bring success to everyone. “I think that I have surrounded myself with the very best of the best,” Sam says. Hopefully, this blueprint will lead to big success in the near future.
Diamond Edge Academy is located at 7850 S Quincy St, Willowbrook, IL 60527
For more information, please visit their website www.DiamondEdgeAcademy.com