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Former teammates open fitness facility
By BRIAN DZENIS
BOARDMAN
Ten years later, Joe Rosko can still drive a teammate nuts with his musical choices.
One day while Rosko was leaving the gym he co-owns for the day, he decided to prank fellow owner Angelo Babbaro.
The former Canfield and Villanova University football player was inside speed training with a kid alone when Rosko thought Barney the Dinosaur’s “I Love You” was the ideal workout song. The prank reminded Babbaro of Rosko singing show tunes in the Canfield locker room.
“I told the kid, ‘Want to know how I got so fast? Listening to stuff like this?’ And then I went running to go change it,” Babbaro said.
Three months ago, the pair opened The Train Station, a 15,000-square-foot fitness facility off Southern Boulevard and Mathews Road.
When they last teamed up a decade ago on the football field, they helped take the Canfield Cardinals to a Division II state final. Now they’re hoping for another hit.
“I think we’ve done things the right way. We didn’t take the easy way or the cheap way or the quickest way, and I think it will pay huge dividends for us in the future,” Rosko said. “It seems like everyone who comes through our doors leaves with a smile on their face.”
What started in an old machine shop is on its way to becoming a fully stocked gym. The previous tenant left behind machinery that had to be cleared out.
“If you saw before and after pictures, you wouldn’t believe it was the same space,” Babbaro said. “We’ve done a lot of work here, and we still have some exciting improvements to make.”
Some of those improvements at The Train Station include an indoor batting cage, indoor turf and a juice bar.
Babbaro, who studied economics, human resources and leadership at Villanova, does a lot of the back-end business work, while Rosko is on the floor for the day-to-day coaching.
After graduating from Coastal Carolina University, Rosko moved to New York City to try his hand at show business. He’s traveled across the United States and to China and Ireland to perform on stage. He started doing CrossFit, a type of high-intensity workout involving multiple disciplines, on the side, but soon it took over his life.
“I was performing in Missouri, and my buddy was like, ‘You gotta try this thing called CrossFit.’ People who read and hear about it are like, ‘Yeah, that’s stupid,’ and I was that guy,” Rosko said. “I walked in the gym and it seemed like I was there all day. It seemed like I was there all the time when I wasn’t working.”
After performing at his final show in 2013 in Missouri, he began to work at a CrossFit gym in Queens, N.Y. In a year he went from working as a “desk boy” to head fitness coach, Rosko said.
Babbaro had spent the past four years working for the Muransky Co. in Boardman before joining up with Rosko.
“I always had a passion for athletics, not just football, but health and wellness and obviously giving back to the community,” Babbaro said. “I thought it would be a great opportunity for us to work together again as teammates and see if we can help out the [Mahoning] Valley once again.”
The two have taken on this project on their own, and they know the risks involved. But they like the foundation they’ve set and are confident going forward.
“It’s kind of like Texas Hold ’em. Four cards are out, and we hope that the fifth card is drawn and it’s in our favor, but we like the hand that we’re holding,” Rosko said. “I think we’ll come out on top with a memorable establishment that people will talk about in the Youngstown area.”