BRADENTON – It’s not unusual to see Tommy Haas out swinging at tennis balls on the court in Bradenton. That is, if you happen to be out on the 300-acre facility of IMG Academy (IMGA), known for its international Bollettieri Tennis Academy.
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| Multiple tennis courts where players of Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy train in Bradenton. |
”That’s Tommy Haas,“ said David Portnowitz, pointing to Haas training on a court at the academies. Portnowitz is the multimedia coordinator at IMGA and works directly with Nick Bollettieri, the founder of the tennis academy and coach to some of the most famous athletes around today.
”A lot of the pros come out and practice here,“ Portnowitz said.
Haas glides his tennis racket through one stroke and wham to the next, breaking only to move to the net for a block shot. He’s originally from Hamburg, Germany, and is a professional tennis player who achieved the No. 2 spot in the world in May 2002.
”Tommy Haas has been training at the academy for over 20 years,“ Portnowitz said. ”He is one of Nick’s favorite students and has been here since he was 12 years old.“
This year there are 800 full-time students representing 80 countries at the academy, and about 11,000 athletes come through each year.
But it’s not just the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy that students are seeking out. There is also the David Leadbetter Golf Academy, IMG Basketball Academy, IMG Soccer Academy, IMG Baseball Academy, IMG Swimming Academy, IMG Performance Institute, the Pendleton School, the University of Miami language school and university courses, Bollettieri Sports Medicine, and the Evert Tennis Academy in Boca Raton.
If the thought of all the academies combined have your muscles aching, head over to the Wellness Spa. It’s a part of the academies, too.
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| Tommy Haas is one of the many professional tennis players training at IMGA in Bradenton. |
Although tennis is the most popular sport at IMGA, Dan Tierney, the public relations coordinator at IMGA, said golf and soccer are next in line.
So what is the process to come out and play at IMGA?
Students from ages 8 through 18 with a passion for any of the IMGA-represented sports send in an application and the IMGA staff follows up and asks the student to come to the facilities and spend a few days with the sport they would like to play.
The reason is simple – to get a feel for what it’s like at IMGA.
”A lot of these kids live on their own when they get here because their families can’t always afford to move with them,“ Tierney said. ”I think we are really trying to build student-athletes who can succeed long after they leave here.“
IMGA provides a campus that’s energetic and inspires hard work. Students experience youths and adults from a lot of different countries, which helps them to mature, grow and open their minds to success.
Taking training to the master level at IMGA involves many components, including physical and mental conditioning, nutrition, communication, eye vision and focus, regeneration, and life skills.
But don’t think this training is just for youths preparing for college. Tierney said adults of all ages come to IMGA.
”College and adult professionals choose to do the mental conditioning and learn how to focus, using the positive things in life and not to dwell on the negative things,“ he said.
At the U.S. Open 2009, Tierney and Portnowitz said there were about 20 participating students from IMGA in the men's, ladies' and junior's category.
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Heather Watson won the junior title at 2009 U.S. Open and has trained at Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy for 5 years. Photo credit David Portnowitz and IMG Academies. |
”Heather (Watson) has been training here for 5 years and she is 17 years old from Great Britain,“ Portnowitz said. ”She just came up through the general program and she has a fantastic personality, very grounded.“
Watson came out of nowhere to win the tournament for the junior girls category and had gone in ranked U.S. Open seed 11.
”We have the No. 1-ranked junior player in the world training here right now,“ Tierney said. ”His name isYuki Bhambri; he’s from India.“
Don’t ask Tierney and Portnowitz this question: How many IMGA trainees have gone on to play in the U.S. Open? There are too many to count.
Try this one: How many a year participate in the U.S. Open?
”Usually, between the men's, the ladies' and the juniors', about 20,“ Portnowitz said. ”In 1987, Nick had 27 students just in the main draw, which is incredible. That’s an incredible number.“
Toss a few names around for fun from the 2009 U.S. Open and learn they are all part of IMGA: Tommy Haas, Maria Sharapova, and Venus and Serena Williams.
Bollettieri was the first person to really conceptualize a sports academy with a boarding school.
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| The Leadbetter Golf Academy at IMGA is one of the more popular sports for those training at the academies in Bradenton. |
”When he did, it was revolutionary,“ Portnowitz said. ”No one had ever done it before and now everyone does it.“
Portnowitz said the greatest quality about Bollettieri is his passion to help everyone.
He has a reputation for walking around the courts and offering help to anyone. He loves his family, he loves to play golf and he loves to travel.
”He just has a passion for life that kind of exceeds a lot of people,“ Tierney said. ”You can put his energy level at 78 against anybody.“
Portnowitz said Bollettieri likes to see what the player does naturally without any coaching when evaluating an upcoming tennis star.
”He’s not big into giving long-winded explanations about technical things,“ he said. ”I think what Nick looks for is obviously a passion, a hunger.“
Portnowitz is right on.
”Basically what I look for is what God gave them,“ Bollettieri said. ”What the person does without saying anything to the person.“
Bollettieri also takes into consideration the player’s background, their parents, overall intelligence and how they handle pressure.
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Nick Bollettieri working with Sabine Lisicki, a German tennis player. Photo credit IMG Academies. |
”Pressure. How they handle pressure is a different ballgame,“ Bollettieri said. ”Look for that spunk and that passion that they refuse to lose and will do anything to win.“
Bradenton has certainly benefited from having more than 11,000 IMGA athletes and their families pass through each year.
”I think Nick helped to put this town on the map,“ Portnowitz said. ”I think his impact is going to go on generation after generation, well after we are gone.“
Bollettieri knows IMGA and his tennis academy has helped to make Bradenton famous.
But that’s not his driving force.
”To see a child smile and know they are happy. That’s the key,“ Bollettieri said.
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