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IMG Academy

Coordinates: 27°26′28″N 82°36′07″W / 27.441°N 82.602°W / 27.441; -82.602
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IMG Academy
Company typePrivate boarding school
IndustryBoarding school, camp, sports camps, adult & family programs, team training, professional & collegiate training
Founded2002
HeadquartersBradenton, Florida, U.S.
Key people
Chip McCarthy, Managing Director
ParentIMG WME
Websitewww.imgacademy.com

IMG Academy is a preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. The boarding school offers an integrated academic and athletic college preparatory experience across eight sports – baseball, boys and girls basketball, football, golf, boys and girls lacrosse, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls tennis, track & field and cross country. IMG Academy offers camp programs on a year-round basis and serves as a training and competition venue for amateur, collegiate, and professional teams, adults, and families and as a host site for a variety of events.

History

Nick Bollettieri founded the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in 1978. Sports and entertainment company IMG purchased the academy in 1987.[1] IMG acquired the youth division of the David Leadbetter Golf Academy in 1993 and added programs for soccer and baseball in 1994. Hockey and basketball programs were added in 2000 and 2001, respectively, and by 2002 the IMG campus had expanded to 190 acres (0.77 km2).[2] IMG Academy suspended its hockey program in 2003.[citation needed] Football was added in 2010,[3] as well as lacrosse.[4] Track & field and cross country were added in 2013.[5]

IMG Academy currently sits on 450 acres (180 ha) of land, and in 2011, IMG paid $7.5 million for an additional 110 acres (45 ha) adjacent to the current campus for future expansion.[1] In 2014, IMG purchased an additional 24 acres (9.7 ha). The land borders IMG's west campus, where the sports performance academy is undergoing a $198 million expansion.[6]

The IMG Pendleton School was founded in 1999 as a co-educational, college preparatory school for athletic students. In 2012, the school changed its name to "IMG Academy".[7] It delivers both academics and athletics.[8]

Programs

Bollettieri tennis

The Bollettieri tennis program offers year-round tennis camps ranging from one to five weeks in length and is led by director Rohan Goetzke.[9] The campus has 35 outdoor hard courts, 5 indoor hard courts, and 16 green clay courts.[10]

In 1987, thirty-two academy students or former students were in the Wimbledon draw and twenty-seven were in the U.S. Open. Famous past students include Andre Agassi, Monica Seles, Jim Courier, Kei Nishikori, Anna Kournikova, Serena Williams, and Maria Sharapova.[citation needed]

Football

IMG announced the John Madden Football Academy in March 2010 and held its first camp from June 4–6, 2010. The football program offers a residency program and year-round camps ranging from three days to five weeks in length and was previously led by former NFL quarterback Chris Weinke.[11] The academy fielded a high school football team for the first time in 2013.[12] In 2013, MaxPreps called IMG Academy the "nation's top high school football facility."[13] IMG Academy named Kevin Wright the head coach in spring 2015 after Weinke accepted a position as quarterbacks coach with the Los Angeles Rams.[14] Wright guided the program to its first undefeated regular season (9–0) in 2015.[15] Earnest Byner, the running backs coach is featured in NFL Undiscovered which, since 2016, has featured overseas prospects who have little or no prior knowledge of the game.

Soccer

IMG Academy offers an Academy soccer program and year-round soccer camps. IMG Academy was home to U.S. Soccer's full-time residency program for the United States' U-16 and U-17 men's national teams. Started in 1999 and closed in 2017, it was integral in developing the United States' top youth soccer prospects. The original idea of the residency program was to give elite players the opportunity to train in a professional environment as most MLS clubs did not have a substantial youth academy system in place prior to 2009. The Bradenton Academy has grown from an initial 20 players to 30 in 2002 and then to 40 in 2003. The program is now split into a U-16 squad and a U-17 squad.

A typical day for the student-athlete at Bradenton consists of academic classes in the morning followed by sports training in the afternoon. Students at the academy take accelerated courses and graduate high school a year early, making the players who do not turn pro immediately some of the most heavily recruited prospects in college soccer. The academy can trace its roots back to Project 2010 which highlighted ways U.S. Soccer could make the senior men's national team a legitimate threat to win the World Cup by the end of the decade. Two programs that were born from Project 2010 were Generation Adidas (previously called Project-40) and the Bradenton Academy. The academy was started in January 1999 with the backing of IMG and Nike, but was closed in 2017 due to the proliferation of U.S. Development Academy programs.[16]

Baseball

IMG Academy has an Academy baseball program and year-round camps, in addition to summer Wood Bat Leagues.[17]

Basketball

IMG Academy's post graduate program played in their only appearance in the 2016 National Prep Championship in New Haven, Connecticut. Among the teams were Brewster Academy, DME Academy, Elev-8 Sports Institute, Fork Union Military Academy, Hargrave Military Academy, IMG Academy, Northfield Mount Hermon School, and more.[18] The head coach of IMG's national high school team is Sean McAloon, who previously was the head coach at St. John's College High School in Washington, D.C.

Its basketball alumni include Dallas Mavericks forward Dwight Powell and Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac, the 6th overall pick of the 2017 NBA draft. In 2017, IMG Academy had its first two selections to the McDonald's All American Game, Trevon Duval was selected to the boys game and Rellah Boothe was selected to the girls game. In 2018, Anfernee Simons would enter directly from the academy to the 2018 NBA Draft, being the second player in the academy's history to do so and the third overall player to be drafted directly out of the high school.

During the preparation for the 2017 NBA Draft, the IMG Academy hosted their first ever draft combine. The Professional Basketball Combine would be held as an alternative (mainly for seniors) to measure their abilities and potentially give them the chance to enter the NBA, if not allow them the chance to play in the NBA G League or even overseas, with nearly every participant that year doing exactly that. Currently, four players that participated in the event signed two-way contracts to enter the NBA properly, with eight of them going overseas and 11 players entered the G League.[19] The event would be held once again in 2018, gaining more popularity that year with the participation of former UCLA player and current professional player LiAngelo Ball.[20]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire WNBA 2020 season was held there. Under a plan approved on June 15, the shortened 22-game regular season would be held without fans present.[21][22][23]

Golf

IMG Academy has a golf program and offers summer camps. The students and camp participants play on three golf courses Sara Bay Country Club, IMG Academy Golf Club and Palm Aire Golf Club. IMG's practice facilities include a double sided range, two putting greens and two chipping greens which is open to golf students most of the day.

Lacrosse

IMG Academy has an Academy lacrosse program and year-round camps. IMG Academy launched a high school team in 2012, featuring a new women's program made in 2018. Notable alumni include Tehoka Nanticoke,[24] Marc-Antoine Pion,[25] Zack Pinney and Nick Wood. Prior to that, IMG Academy hosted their first full-time lacrosse student-athlete, Matthew Xirinachs, starting in September 2010. Xirinachs went on to join the Drexel Men's Lacrosse Team in the fall of 2011.[26] The women's team hired head coach, Jeff McGuigan in July 2019.

Track and field and cross country

IMG Academy has an Academy track & field and cross country program and year-round camps.[27]

Notable alumni

Main article: List of IMG Academy alumni

Since opening in 1978, IMG Academy has trained hundreds of Olympic and professional athletes, including those in the NBA, NFL, MLB, MLS, ATP, WTA, PGA Tour and LPGA Tour.

References

  1. ^ a b "New IMG brand to unify Bradenton campus | Bradenton Herald". Bradenton.com. August 19, 2012. Archived from the original on October 3, 2013. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  2. ^ [1] Archived January 25, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Stephen Spiewak (March 18, 2010). "John Madden, IMG Academies launch IMG Madden Football Academy". MaxPreps.com. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  4. ^ "IMG Lacrosse Academy to begin offering instruction in March". Inside Lacrosse. November 5, 2013. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  5. ^ "IMG Academy launches Track & Field and Cross Country program". Sports Techie. May 20, 2013. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  6. ^ "IMG acquires Manatee Fruit land for $1.5 million - IMG Academy - Bradenton Herald". August 27, 2014. Archived from the original on August 27, 2014. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  7. ^ "Pendleton School becomes IMG Academy". FHSAA.org. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  8. ^ "Why". IMG Academy. May 22, 2015. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  9. ^ "Banking giant BNP Paribas and French Open sign five-year extension: This week in tennis business with Justin Cohen". World Tennis Magazine. May 30, 2012. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  10. ^ "IMG Academy Bollettieri tennis program Sports Facilities". August 23, 2012. Archived from the original on August 23, 2012. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  11. ^ "IMG Academies launches John Madden football academy - tribunedigital-orlandosentinel". Articles.orlandosentinel.com. March 19, 2010. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  12. ^ [2] Archived August 31, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ Stephen Spiewak (October 3, 2013). "Behind the scenes photos from IMG Academy". MaxPreps.com. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  14. ^ "IMG Academy names Steve Walsh as director of football and Kevin Wright as coach". USA Today High School Sports. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  15. ^ "IMG Academy Football Top Performers". bradenton. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  16. ^ "U.S. Soccer Residency Program Set to Complete Final Semester After 18 Years". Ussoccer.com. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
  17. ^ [3] Archived December 11, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ "National Prep Championship Field Announced". New Englang Recruiting Report. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  19. ^ "2017 PBC Participants". PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL COMBINE. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  20. ^ "LiAngelo Ball and a new lifeline for NBA hopefuls". Si.com. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  21. ^ "Report: The WNBA's New Proposal For The 2020 Season Includes Full Pay". UPROXX. June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  22. ^ "WNBA announces plans for 2020 season to start late July in Florida". NBC Sports Washington. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  23. ^ @WNBA (July 10, 2020). "Basketball officially returns July 25th. Are you ready for #WNBA Tip-Off 2020 presented by @ATT#ATTtipoff" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  24. ^ "Memory of grandparents fuels Tehoka Nanticoke's play for UAlbany - NCAA.com". Ncaa.com. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  25. ^ Jastrzembski, Chris (July 27, 2017). "College Crosse Prospectus: Former Harvard Defenseman Transfers To Johns Hopkins". College Crosse. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  26. ^ "IMG Academy to Field First Lacrosse Team". Inside Lacrosse. July 23, 2012. Archived from the original on June 23, 2012. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  27. ^ "IMG Academy Track and Field Program - Running Training". Imgacademy.com. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
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