Immediately after walking through the double glass doors of The Performance Lab (TPL), you realize you have entered an athletic facility unlike anything ever seen in the Central Valley.   
As soon as you step in, your shoes come in contact with the 55 yards of artificial indoor turf.  To your left, there are three full-length batting cages with regulation-sized pitching mounds.  To your right sits a custom-built strength and conditioning center equipped with Olympic style weights and dumbbells. Directly in front of you, athletes actively try to finish their drills before the man with the “TPL Systems” shirt gives the signal to stop.
That man is none other than Brett Butler, co-owner of TPL, a 11,200 square foot, high-tech training center which opened its doors this week. Located at 417 Galaxy Way in Modesto, location was an important factor.
“We wanted to bring a very high level training center to the Central Valley for athletes and for people who want to train like an athlete,” Buttler said.
Both Butler and Gabe Torres, Director of Operations, played collegiate sports. They spoke about how difficult it was to find a tailor-made athletic center with a combination of knowledgeable staff, state-of-the-art equipment and most importantly, space to be able to function.
”You always had to drive to the Bay Area, you had to drive to L.A., or had to drive to Sacramento, so we wanted the people that lived here to have the same opportunity as the people in the bigger cities,” Butler said.
Although the terms “Athletic Center” and “Performance Lab” may sound intimidating, Torres says it’s quite the contrary.
“We do train a lot of people that are in athletic programs, but we still train a lot of people who don’t participate in any sports. We still call them our athletes.”
Butler said he felt the same, “I believe that everybody is an athlete, I believe it’s a mentality. Everybody has a different start point, but we are all trying to get to the same ending, and that’s being the best you can be mentally and physically”
All the staff was very passionate when talking about the goals for TPL, especially when it came to talking about the different levels of athletes. “I help train athletes from all different levels, from professional athletes that are at the very-very top, to kids that are barely learning how to play T-Ball,” said Butler. “Even my mother, who is over fifty years old, comes and trains here.” 
It is easy to see why people are excited to post their workout pictures and videos on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and other social media sites with their #TPLfam hashtags. “We are more than just a gym. We are quite a bit more invested. We go to practices, we go to games, we are there for any big achievements that our athletes have. We are a family, TPL family.”