By Sentinel News Service
Sports Academy and NBA legend Kobe Bryant announced a new joint business venture in holistic athletic training, including Sports Academy’s re-branding to MAMBA Sports Academy.
MAMBA Sports Academy will provide effective, safe and transparent overall human performance training to develop athletes to the peak of their potential. The Academy enlists diverse experts to support youth, amateur and elite athletes with a full-circle approach including body, performance and mind training. MAMBA Sports Academy operates three distinct business units; physical training academies, a sports focused venture lab, and a charitable foundation, called the MAMBA Sports Foundation.
“Sports Academy has perfected the art and science of athletic training, from elite players to young kids getting started. MAMBA Sports Academy is a natural expansion of my commitment to educating and empowering the next generation of kids through sports,” said Bryant. “As a basketball coach to young girls, my team trained at Sports Academy, which is when I first experienced the superior level of services and attention to detail their experts delivered to our team. At MAMBA Sports Academy, we will focus on offering a premium experience on proper training for young athletes, and infuse a little ‘Mamba Mentality’ into their programs.”
Originally opened in 2016 by CEO and Founder Chad Faulkner, Sports Academy, a 100,000 square-foot facility, operates five basketball courts, five volleyball courts, two beach volleyball courts, a turf field, a comprehensive sports medicine practice for medical therapy and rehabilitation, a biomechanics lab, a world-class cognitive training lab, an e-sports training ground, batting cages and pitching mounds, close quarters defense training, Gracie Barra jiu jitsu school, a mondo sprint track, a learning center for academic tutoring and training, and a yoga/cycling studio.
“The Academy’s unique proposition of holistic training has attracted athletes of all sports and skill levels to work with our team. We’re extremely proud of the athlete community we’ve built in the Thousand Oaks area over the past two years,” said Faulkner. “We look forward to how Kobe’s involvement will move us forward in the areas of on-site training, digital cognitive training, content creation, investments and charitable endeavors. His ‘Mamba Mentality’ philosophy will no doubt have a major impact on the development of the next generation of athletes.”
Sports Academy currently supports more than 50,000 young athletes annually through on-site camps, clinics and club teams. The facility has become a mecca for elite athletes during off-season training including NBA, WNBA, NFL, MLB, MLS and USOC athletes.
Last month, the Sports Academy team was a pillar in Thousand Oaks as the community was impacted by the Woolsey fires. The Academy supported more than 3,500 effected families by opening its doors as a refuge, providing a place for kids to play, and collecting and distributing more than $20,000 in donated items for firefighters and volunteers.
MAMBA Sports Academy anticipates opening additional facilities in Southern California in the near future. The Academy re-branding is currently underway with all efforts at the facility and in market set for completion by January 2019.
This article originally appeared in the Los Angeles Sentinel.
