A conversation with Bobby Rodriguez at the wedding of Jose Felix’s cousin in 2017 led to a dinner meeting at the restaurant No Anchovies between the two Sunnyside High School graduates to discuss further the possibility of collaborating on a local fitness center.
No Anchovies became the starting point of no giving up when it came to creating one of the most successful and impactful gyms in Southern Arizona.
“Bobby was doing rodeo at that time and he was doing Jiu-Jitsu before that, so we came together to collaborate toward a new direction,” said Felix, who graduated from Sunnyside in 2009, two years after Rodriguez. “I knew what he was doing (in 2017) through social media. I was working physical therapy at that time, thinking that my next step was to go to graduate school for physical therapy.
“We shared ideas and visions at No Anchovies. He was working out of a studio, just renting a little space at the studio. I said, “Look, I can bring my clientele over to to that little studio.’ And before you know it, we outgrew the studio. And in the summer, we had to move to the (Quincie Douglas) park. Right after that summer, we had to find our own space, which was the Pennsylvania (Street and Park Avenue) studio.”
The partnership, with Rodriguez as the owner and Felix the Director of Sports Performance, is the heartbeat and backbone of what has become Jet Sports Training.
“We realized we were both doing the same thing, working with athletes, investing in young people and trying to make a difference,” Rodriguez stated. “That night (at No Anchovies), we decided to lock arms and join forces with one purpose — to give back to the community that gave so much to us and create opportunities for the next generation.”
Their operation outgrew the Pennsylvania and Park location, prompting a move in 2021, after the pandemic, to a larger facility around the corner at Santa Rita Ave. The 6,300-square foot gym is three times the size of the Pennsylvania studio.
Now, five years later, the popularity of the gym, spurred by various youth, high school and college athlete programs, and adult training classes, has generated plans for a potential move to a larger building.
“We’ve been blessed to have an ongoing climb and seeing profits and more people buy into us,” Felix said. “We’re just lucky that something’s working. We’re running out of room in this facility now. So at first, when we moved in, we looked into the space and we we’re like, ‘Okay, how are we gonna fill it up?’ But now we’re going through problems where it’s like, ‘ Man, we’re running out of room here. Where’s our next move?'”
The destination will be on the Southside, where Felix and Rodriguez were raised and take pride in giving back in that community.
“I don’t have any plans to leave the southside of Tucson,” Rodriguez told AllSportsTucson.com when his operations were at the Pennsylvania Street studio. “This is where I was born and raised. A lot of people said I was crazy for starting this on the southside. They said I wouldn’t succeed. That’s the worst thing you could tell me, that I can’t do something.”
Felix and Rodriguez convey that diligent characteristic to their clients, who range from elementary school kids to retirement-age adults.
“We’ve been blessed, me and Bobby, to collaborate and just kind of run it to the way that we see best fit,” Felix said. “That’s taking account for the type of members that we want to train, that we want to welcome, the mentality we want.
“We want to cultivate champions. We want to run it in a way that we were brought up in, like from our Southside roots. We want to really give that experience to our athletes as well. As long as we can still continue to create and collaborate our ideas, then this thing’s going to continue to work.”
Rodriguez and Felix are highly qualified to educate and train their clients about physical development because of their academic backgrounds.
Rodriguez earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture and Life Sciences in 2012 from Arizona, where he was a walk-on with the Wildcat football program.
Felix attended Northern Arizona and earned a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science in 2013.
They have multiple certifications, including being Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
They have turned that high level of fitness knowledge into a powerful outreach to their clients and the community.
“It’s hard to believe 10 summers have passed since then (when they started in 2017),” Rodriguez mentioned. “When I look at what Jet Sports has become, Jose is one of the biggest reasons we are where we are today.
“His impact goes far beyond training athletes. He has poured himself into our kids. their families, our community partners and this entire mission. He has earned people’s trust through his consistency, his character and the way he shows up for others, and his family, year after year.”
Felix is responsible for specialized programs on athletic performance, training youth club teams and high school and college athletes.
Working during the summer with local softball standouts now playing at the college level has become a tradition with Felix, who is welcomed to train them not only by the athletes but also their coaches.
“I know that with the softball program we’ve had running for five years now, it just takes a couple of catalysts like (Salpointe graduate and former Arizona State player) Yannira Acuña and (Canyon del Oro and Utah alum) Halle Morris, who kind of paved the way and and really reiterated that this softball program is its own program,” Felix said. “Yes, we do have high school strength and conditioning programs, but this softball program is special to me because it was an idea, and we we are running it just exclusively for softball players because it’s so popular and there’s such a demand for it.”
A total of 16 college softball players took part in the weekly workouts this summer. They interacted with high school players by Felix’s design.
“Right now, our cutoff is they must have finished their their freshman season at a high school level, so it’s got to be incoming sophomores all the way up to college,” Felix said. “The girls in college were once in these young girls’ shoes, and I want them to learn from each other.
“It gives the younger girls that opportunity to say, ‘Hey, I train with some of the best at the highest level. That’s where I aspire to be.’ That way, they can pay it back when it’s their turn in return.”
Felix also spearheads community events such as speed and agility camps, media days for upcoming high school sports seasons, Jet Day recruiting seminars with college coach speakers (Pima College athletic director and baseball coach Kevin Jacome was the featured speaker this summer), and an annual awards ceremony for achievements by Southern Arizona athletes and those who train at Jet Sports Training.
“I feel like we have a community aspect where we’re not just gonna train you to be your your best physically and athletically,” Felix said. “We’re also gonna be showing up to your games. We’re also gonna be providing you knowledge and opportunities with college recruiters. You’re you’re gonna have a chance as a parent or a coach to network and collaborate with other parents and coaches.
“We want to make this a hub where we’re just a medium into giving you the next opportunity to advance. We strive to really put on for our city in a sense where we’re hosting camps and events that go beyond training.”
With all the activity beyond the facility, literally and figuratively, it is no wonder why Jet Sports Training will need greater space once again soon.
The operation has no limits because of how Rodriguez and Felix keep expanding their ideas and creativity together.
“I’ve learned that if you want to build something meaningful, something that lasts, you have to choose your running mates wisely,” Rodriguez stated. “I couldn’t be more grateful that Jose and I are running mates. We started this by asking how we could give back to the community that helped shape us, and 10 summers later, that same purpose still drives us.
“What we’ve built means a lot to me, but I believe what’s ahead can be even greater. We’re still running. We’re still growing, and we’re still committed to paying it forward. The future of JET is bright, and I’m proud that Jose and I get to keep building it together.”
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