Back row, from left: Jason Nurse, Marcus Giles, Brian Giles. Front

row: John, Dylan and Max.

^{Photo by Dan McLellan}

“I think if you work hard like Brian and I did, you can make it,” says Marcus Giles. “We will teach [our clients] how to do that and I think that will be beneficial to all kids.”

Former San Diego Padresteammates and Granite Hills High School alumni brothersBrian and Marcus Giles are back on the same team, again. Fresh into baseball retirement, the two are set to open the Giles Baseball & Sports Fitness training facility in Sorrento Valley.

Along with partner Jason Nurse, the Giles brothers are looking to draw from their collective 20 years of professional baseball experience and give back by training and inspiring the next generation of San Diego athletes.

The business is designed to improve every component of being a successful athlete. Marcus will be working hands-on, teaching hitting and other baseball fundamentals. Nurse, a personal trainer, will work with clients to improve athletic ability such as speed, strength and agility. Together they will both be teaching the importance of mental focus and having a good head on one’s shoulders.

Although geared for children 8 to 18, the facility will take all comers. “I worked with six moms and four dads last year," says Nurse. “Agility training is not only for an athlete, it is for anyone. It makes you more confident in everything that you do.”

For Marcus Giles, the key to success will lie in a personalized approach. “I am not going to try to bring a kid in here and try to teach him the way that I hit,” he says. “I am going to take a look at his style and his way of hitting and try to fine tune it and work with what he has. You take what the kid has to work with and exploit his positives or correct his weaknesses.”

Brian Giles concurs: “You find what he is weakest at and spend twenty minutes on that before you go to the positives. Ultimately you want him to walk out of here feeling confident that he accomplished something.”

The important thing is finding what works and does not work with each individual.“The way [Marcus] hits and the success the he had hitting, I couldn’t hit that way," says Brian. "But the success that I had and the way that I hit, he couldn’t hit that way.”

All three business partners believe that success will lie in not just improving an individual game on the field, but teaching life skills and learning how to conquer the mental side of sports.

“One of the most important things that a kid is going to get from coming here is not the physical side of the game,” says Nurse. “Show them that they can play baseball, but when you leave these doors, you still have to be a good person. You have to have a set of rules for when you walk in here and when you walk out of here and I think that is super important to having a successful facility.”

Brian believes that sharing Marcus’ and his life experiences of overcoming obstacles to make it to the big leagues will be critical in teaching young players that they can overcome there own hurdles in life.

“I had people look me right in the eyes and tell me I can’t do that. What that did is give [me] motivation to prove them wrong,” Brian says. “These kids are going to learn that they are going to have negative things said to them. People are going to try to take you down, but you can’t let them take you down. You have to just role with the punches. You need to believe in yourself and believe that if you work hard enough and you want it hard enough that it will happen.”

Eventually Brian and Marcus hope that with their own hard work their business will grow and allow them to incorporate some of their friends with Major League Baseball experience. “We would start with names that people recognize,” says Brian. “Tom Fordham, John Barnes, Shane Spencer, would be the first people I would contact.” All three have major league experience and attended Granite Hills with them.

Until then, both are looking forward to helping their new clients improve their game and possibly help them succeed enough to be noticed by a scout.

(For more information contact Jason Nurse at 858-412-6433; related article--Shane Spencer Loves His Job)