Something Big Is Coming to Ontario—and Youth Sports Is at the Center of It

For Dave Coggin, the growth of youth baseball in the Inland Empire is visible in the expanding choices facing families: travel teams, tournaments, showcases and year-round training.

But the same coach who sees business opportunity also sees a problem.

“However, I don’t believe all of that growth has necessarily been in the best interest of the player,” he said.

That tension runs through the region’s youth-sports story. Tournament visitors can mean customers for hotels, restaurants and training businesses. For families, the same activity can mean larger bills, crowded schedules and less time to recover.

Ontario Sports Empire’s approaching opening brings those questions into sharper focus: How much can sports contribute to the local economy, and what makes that growth worthwhile for the athletes driving it?

The complex lists its grand opening for October 24, 2026. Helen McAlary, executive director of Community Life & Culture for the City of Ontario, said the ribbon-cutting celebration is intended to introduce residents to the venue.

In a written response to Inland Empire Today, she described plans for tournament play spectators can watch, professional-athlete meet-and-greets, a field-goal competition, a home-run derby and a kids zone.

“This is a sports facility but there will be lots of opportunity for the community to enjoy the venue with events and play,” McAlary said.

Christopher Hirz, Ontario Sports Empire’s general manager, said the opportunity to help shape the operation was central to his decision to take the job.

“The size and versatility of the facility are both exciting, but what mattered most to me was the chance to build the team, culture, and programming that will bring it to life,” he said.

Before opening, his priorities are practical: staffing, safety procedures, traffic and parking plans, maintenance and guest service.

The Inland Empire already has an established tournament destination in Norco. SilverLakes Park describes a 130-acre property with 24 soccer fields, alongside event spaces and the FieldHouse. Its mix of sports and other gatherings shows how a venue can serve visitors beyond the playing field.

Coggin described how tournament business can spread into the surrounding community.

He also pointed to a sports-performance economy that includes instructors, training facilities, strength coaches and physical therapists. Some of that demand comes from visiting teams; other business comes from local families pursuing development throughout the year.

The scale of the regional payoff is a separate question.

Ontario’s economic-development page promotes projections of 1.2 million new visitors, $62 million in new net spending and more than 610 new full-time jobs. The page does not clearly specify the measurement period or development phase behind those headline figures. They should be understood as the City’s projections, rather than spending or jobs already recorded.

His assessment leaves room for a facility to matter to nearby businesses and residents without transforming the economy of two counties.

For families, meanwhile, spending is an immediate concern.

Time can be just as costly. Coggin said families sacrifice weekends, vacations and time away from baseball as the sport becomes a year-round commitment. He also described pressure to pursue team rankings, pitching velocity and other performance measures.

“My concern is not with families investing in their children,” he said. “It’s making sure that investment is actually helping the athlete develop rather than simply feeding the pressure to constantly do more.”

Dr. Jonathan Smits, a pediatric sports-medicine physician at Loma Linda University Health, said year-round participation in one sport subjects young athletes to repetitive stresses with limited recovery.

In written answers provided through the university health system, he described overuse injuries involving growing bones, tendons and joints. He said risk rises when athletes compete on multiple teams simultaneously, lack recovery between seasons or continue training through pain.

Smits said warning signs can include persistent or recurrent pain, unexplained joint swelling, repeated injuries, excessive fatigue and disrupted sleep. Changes in attitude also matter: losing enjoyment, feeling pressured to participate or wanting to avoid practices can signal an excessive load.

He encouraged participation in different sports for most children, explaining that it builds a broader range of movement skills while reducing repeated stress on the same parts of the body.

As Ontario prepares to welcome players and spectators, its operators face the task of delivering the safe, welcoming experience Hirz described. The wider youth-sports community faces a related challenge: ensuring that more opportunities produce something valuable for the children taking part.

Coggin put that responsibility plainly.