SPRINGVALE — A-Pro Sporting Goods opened last fall, and is aiming to become the local spot for folks interested in fishing, hunting, and an array of winter, spring, summer and fall sports. The store offers everything from fresh bait to ice augers to footballs, baseballs and ammunition. There are also earrings made from fishing lures and leather holsters made by a local man.

Crystal Adams, who owns the shop with her husband Jeff, said A-Pro Sporting Goods is an alternative to big box stores.

The couple searches out American-made products, and offers an array of items made in Maine or New Hampshire.

“If we can find something made locally, we buy local,” Crystal Adams said.

And she and her husband, who works at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery weekdays and at the sporting goods shop on the weekends, are hoping folks here and in the surrounding communities will take up the local mantra when they consider buying outdoor equipment and sporting goods.

An example of local offerings are Jacktraps ”“ ice fishing traps and tip-ups ”“ which are made in Monmouth.

The desire to open a local sporting goods store came naturally to the Adams family, an extension of their own lives, which include hunting, fishing and playing sports, said Crystal. And since another local sporting goods shop closed in 2008, the Adams family ”“ like others ”“ has had to travel out of town, as much as an hour, to find what they needed.

As well as sales to individuals, the company does team sales, and, Crystal said, has worked with some local schools and with Sanford Little League teams this year.

“We try to keep prices reasonable,” she said. Orders for spring baseball will be submitted in February.

Crystal said a few years ago, her husband started a Junior Legion baseball team in the area, aimed at 13- to 17-year-olds. Like other sports, it’s fun, and it keeps young people busy, she said.

“We have a strong belief if kids are busy and occupied, they stay out of trouble,” she said.

Crystal, who has worked in various public service fields, is the face you’ll see weekdays. Jeff takes the weekend shift, starting at 5:30 a.m. so fishermen eager to get out on the ice can get their fresh bait: shiners, worms and smelt. Their son, Sean, 17, helps out on weekends, and daughter, Alexis, who has a full-time job elsewhere, pops in occasionally to help out, their mother said.

A-Pro Sporting Goods is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 5:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekends.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or [email protected].