Had a chance to spend the last ten days at the IMG academy. Spent a few days doing an old, fat, ex-athlete training camp and a couple more hanging out with a friend (who is "associated" with the program) and got to check out all the facilities (unfortunately missed the spring game by a few days). Highlights included looking like an idiot next to Ben Lammers and (for the tennis fans) seeing Kei Nishikori practicing after his loss in France ~12 hours before.
Will say a few things:
1) Unreal that this is a high school facility. Will try to post pictures later, but the weight rooms would rival any d1 school in the country. The most cutting edge machines plus the size of the facilities were massive. There is also a Gatorade Recovery Institute on site + a ridiculous amount of recovery toys. Even the turf on the training fields were different than anything I have felt before. Maybe now I know what it feels like to step foot in the new Ryan Fieldhouse?
2) ... all partially paid for by the ridiculously high tuition (80K/yr) for football and basketball. There are actually two football squads, the "blue" team, where all the big names play, and the "white" team, which is more like a JV squad (that could still compete in the highest divisions). That said, the economics are very interesting. The White team are all fringe (likely d-II or d-III), but come from families that are well-off enough to pay the entire tuition and let their kid live out their dream. These players are essentially subsidizing the five-stars that join the program on full scholarship.
3) IMG really made a smart move by buying into this. For those unfamiliar with history, this really started as a tennis camp by Nick Bollettieri (Agassi's coach). One year, 27 of the 32 remaining US Open players trained with Bollettieri. It lost a bit of luster in the 2000's, but IMG came in to put in money, while building a football and basketball team. Players have to wear their "IMG/Under Armour" sponsored gear at all times, and will get booted or taped if not complying. Considering the amount of future pros there, particularly in football, basketball and tennis (where they have 6 of the top 15 boys in the world, and the number 1 girl playing there), its a pretty amazing windfall. As a result, they are now aggressively building out even more facilities and buying more land.
4) And while the finances are solid, the future is a bit murky. Lots of pushback from rival agencies, who are now trying to organize other schools against it. Also don't be surprised if another, similar camp, sponsored by another agency, pops up in the next year or two in California. Hopefully this won't be the wave of the future - even the youngest kids seem to already be focused on the dollar, and feels like it takes away some of the fun of HS football. Guess we will wait and see.
5) (finally) nice to see NU represented in several ways, including literature for the recruits. Didn't see Stanford on the list (don't know if they have recruited anyone), and also surprising to not see Alabama (unless I missed it).
Anyone else been down there?
Will say a few things:
1) Unreal that this is a high school facility. Will try to post pictures later, but the weight rooms would rival any d1 school in the country. The most cutting edge machines plus the size of the facilities were massive. There is also a Gatorade Recovery Institute on site + a ridiculous amount of recovery toys. Even the turf on the training fields were different than anything I have felt before. Maybe now I know what it feels like to step foot in the new Ryan Fieldhouse?
2) ... all partially paid for by the ridiculously high tuition (80K/yr) for football and basketball. There are actually two football squads, the "blue" team, where all the big names play, and the "white" team, which is more like a JV squad (that could still compete in the highest divisions). That said, the economics are very interesting. The White team are all fringe (likely d-II or d-III), but come from families that are well-off enough to pay the entire tuition and let their kid live out their dream. These players are essentially subsidizing the five-stars that join the program on full scholarship.
3) IMG really made a smart move by buying into this. For those unfamiliar with history, this really started as a tennis camp by Nick Bollettieri (Agassi's coach). One year, 27 of the 32 remaining US Open players trained with Bollettieri. It lost a bit of luster in the 2000's, but IMG came in to put in money, while building a football and basketball team. Players have to wear their "IMG/Under Armour" sponsored gear at all times, and will get booted or taped if not complying. Considering the amount of future pros there, particularly in football, basketball and tennis (where they have 6 of the top 15 boys in the world, and the number 1 girl playing there), its a pretty amazing windfall. As a result, they are now aggressively building out even more facilities and buying more land.
4) And while the finances are solid, the future is a bit murky. Lots of pushback from rival agencies, who are now trying to organize other schools against it. Also don't be surprised if another, similar camp, sponsored by another agency, pops up in the next year or two in California. Hopefully this won't be the wave of the future - even the youngest kids seem to already be focused on the dollar, and feels like it takes away some of the fun of HS football. Guess we will wait and see.
5) (finally) nice to see NU represented in several ways, including literature for the recruits. Didn't see Stanford on the list (don't know if they have recruited anyone), and also surprising to not see Alabama (unless I missed it).
Anyone else been down there?
