FLORENCE, Ala. – There’s a new athletic training facility opening soon in Florence and participants will have the opportunity to learn firsthand from a former Cullman, Wallace State and Alabama standout. Former Bearcat shortstop Kolby Robinson is opening 256 Sports Academy in Florence and he’s excited to start working with future generations of ball players. The facility will offer training sessions for individuals and groups of all ages in all sports as well as travel ball and local teams.
For practically as long as he can remember, Kolby has been playing baseball so it’s no surprise that even though his playing days are over, baseball will remain a big part of his life. Robinson worked his way from Cullman High School to Wallace State and into the starting shortstop position at Alabama and now he wants to give back to a generation of younger players working toward their own dreams.
“As I got older and further into my college career, I knew that I wanted to stay involved in baseball whether that was through coaching a team or training kids individually. When you play a game for as long as I did and dedicate your whole life to it, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get out of it completely,” Robinson said. “I also feel like I have a pretty cool story that could relate to a lot of younger athletes out there because I was undersized and overlooked throughout most of my career, but I kept working hard and ultimately it led me to be the starting shortstop at Alabama. I want to be able to other kids who may feel the same way I did in high school that your hard work will eventually pay off as long as you believe in yourself the way I did.”
Robinson knew he wanted to stay involved in the game through coaching but the idea for a training facility began to take shape after he recently moved to Florence. He, along with his fiancés family, decided to open the facility and hope to provide something they think is missing in Florence.
“The way I decided on opening a training facility started when my fiancé, Jordan Wynn, and I decided to move up to Florence where her family is from. I was talking with her dad, Brian Wynn, one day and he is a big sports guy who was apart of UNA’s football team back when they won the national championship. He mentioned how Florence was in need of a nice facility where players and teams could go and hit and train and do whatever they needed to do,” Robinson said. “We started talking more and more about how cool it would be to have our own facility and it ultimately led to us deciding to become partners and open 256 Sports Academy together. We will offer individual/group hitting, pitching and infield instruction for baseball and softball players as well as speed and agility training for athletes in all sports.”
Robinson is excited to get started and hopes that he can show more players that they can overcome any adversity if they work hard and invest in themselves.
“I’m beyond excited to be opening up my own facility because it has always been a dream of mine to help mentor and be a role model to younger athletes,” Robinson said. “I’m hoping that my journey and career will help younger athletes realize that even if you are undersized and don’t necessarily fit the stereotype of what an SEC athlete looks like, you can still compete and excel at the highest level by having a hard work ethic and believing in yourself.”
256 Sports Academy will be opening later this summer and is located at 1130 County Road 46 in Florence and for more information you can find 256 Sports Academy on Facebook, or you can get in touch with them via email at Kolby@256sportsacademy.com or phone at 256-620-0608.
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