Chapman to bring sports center to Saukville

Imagine a sports center that includes four basketball courts, nine basketball shooting cages, six volleyball courts, eight pickleball courts, team rooms, a sports medicine area and a lounge for players and families to use.

Think of a place that is expected to host 16 tournaments for school-based basketball teams and 18 national tournaments that would draw 16,000 athletes and 40,000 fans, as well as six volleyball tournaments bringing in 960 players and 2,500 fans.

The facility, which would be open 360 days a year — closed only on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Day, Easter and the Fourth of July — would host everyone from youngsters to senior citizens participating in recreation leagues and individuals with developmental disabilities taking part in Special Olympics.

That is what Chapman Basketball Academy in Mequon envisions as its second location — Gateway Sports Academy in Saukville’s new Northern Gateway Community Collective being built on the village’s east side.

The Gateway, as it would be called, is part of the development known as Mel’s Village, a nod to Mel’s Charities, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with disabilities that will be establishing its headquarters in the subdivision.

The development includes housing for these individuals, and every business that locates there has signed on to hiring some of these individuals — something Joe Chapman, founder of the academy, said he didn’t need persuading to do.

“We want to work hand-in-hand with Mel’s,” Chapman said, noting he worked with people with disabilities after he graduated from college.

“There’s something here for everyone, whether you’re an individual with disabilities or able-bodied,” Brian Hebein, a former Port High boys’ basketball coach who will be the tournament and sports camp director for the Gateway, said.

“We want to make everyone feel welcome and included.”

Wisconsin Premier Volleyball Club, also located in Mequon, will handle the volleyball end of things, while Chapman manages the other athletic offerings. He’s still looking for a sports medicine provider, something he said is important for the facility

“We want to make this a community event space,” Chapman said, noting the facility will be available to groups like Port Hoops and the Port Soccer Club to rent for practices and games.

“There’s a shortage of gyms in the area. There’s a shortage of space,” he said. “If you provide the right system where people can use what you have, it will work. And once you get going, it almost runs itself.”

As the academy takes shape and grows, so too will the economy around it, said Tyler Mueller, who will be the facility director and director of youth recreation at the Gateway. He and Hebein are also directors for Chapman Basketball Academy North division now while Dave Mentkowski runs the south division.

Mel’s Village includes a hotel and restaurants, and Mueller noted that the Academy’s tournaments will be stay-and-play, requiring teams that travel 75 miles or more to stay in the area.

And, Chapman noted, there will be activities in the plaza just outside the facility that will draw people not just from the academy but the community as well.

“This is a true entertainment district,” Mueller said.

Chapman Academy is an established name in the basketball world, founded seven years ago by Chapman and his wife Carolyn.

Chapman played basketball at Marquette University for four years, then played overseas for another 11 years. During summers, he returned to Wisconsin to run basketball camps at Marquette.

In 2017 he began doing workouts with Chloe Marotta, a Homestead High School star and Marquette player, and her sister, serving as their personal trainer. His client base grew to between 20 and 30 young athletes, and he faced a conundrum — should he head overseas again to play or, at parents’ requests, stay in the U.S. and develop his business, running Amateur Athletic Union teams and continuing with training?

He stayed, and in 2018 Chapman Academy was born, running four AAU teams the first year, 22 the next year and 78 today.

“We’ve been rolling every year since then,” Chapman said.

He does skills training, team takeovers where he works with players and coaches, three-on-three leagues and tournaments, as well as summer camps.

But while basketball is the core of Chapman Basketball Academy, it’s not the only focus.

“This mission is really family,” Hebein said.”It’s about using sports to teach youths the lessons of how to succeed in life.”

“If they get a Division I scholarship, that’s great,” Chapman said. But, he said, he’s more interested in developing the whole person, noting that after school they sometimes bring tutors in to work with their athletes and at the Gateway they also plan on providing before and after-school care with busing to the Port-Saukville schools.

“We’re a true academy,” he said.

Chapman said the impetus for the Gateway facility came from Mike Ansay, managing general partner of  Ansay Development, which is working with Three Leaf Partners to create the Northern Gateway Community Collective.

About two years ago, he said, Ansay approached him with the idea of creating a new facility as part of the development.

“He said, ‘I think this would be a great opportunity for you,’” Chapman said, noting he had previously worked with Mel’s Charities before.

“We wanted to continue that partnership, “ Mueller said. “It’s all just come together at the Gateway.”

Ansay, Chapman said, “gets a vision and he’s going to see it through. He’s going to get it to where it needs to be. This is a huge opportunity.”

Hebein said that it will be invaluable to expose athletes to people with disabilities and have them work together.

“We’re really wanting to live the Mel’s vision,” he said. “He does not see disability, he sees opportunities.

“We bought in right away.“

Plans for the Gateway Academy are expected to be reviewed by the Village of Saukville next month, and if all goes well Chapman and his partners hope to break ground on the project on Nov. 13.

It is expected to take eight months to complete the building, with the Gateway set to open in summer 2024.