A chance encounter with a hall-of-fame tennis player put former USA Volleyball setter Donald Suxho at the helm of what promises to be one of the world’s premier volleyball academies.
In July, IMG Academy hired the two-time Olympian to oversee its new girls volleyball program. IMG Academy, a private boarding sports academy in Bradenton, Florida, Suxho said, had been discussing ways to increase the female population on its 600-acre campus.
Volleyball was seen as the logical choice.
“Because of the popularity and the growth (of volleyball), they said this is a no-brainer,” Suxho, 46, said. “Girls volleyball is the fastest growing youth sport in America.”
IMG Academy began in 1978 as the Nick Bolletteri Tennis Academy. The success of the tennis program led to the academy expanding to include golf. For the next 30 years, more sports were added, and the inception of the girls volleyball program brings IMG Academy’s roster of sports to 15.
IMG has students from middle school through high school (age 19). Students can go to “day” school there but not participate in sports, choose boarding school but no sports, do both boarding school and sports or just come for the sports programs with no boarding.
The school draws from all over the world. Of the approximately 1,400 students who attend, Suxho said, about 30% come from outside the USA.
And while IMG Academy accepts students from everywhere, it doesn’t accept everyone.
“There are certain standards in terms of grades and level,” Suxho said. “If kids have red flags at school or in sports or there are issues, it doesn’t matter if you are the son of LeBron James. If your kid is getting arrested or kicked out of school, you will not get in here.
“The overall culture at IMG is we prepare the best student-athletes for the next phase of their lives. Aside from the (education) curriculum we have, we have leadership training, we have mental training, we have yoga, nutrition training, peak performance training. We create really effective human beings on and off the court.
“For sure the No. 1 goal is to go to college, the best college possible, and earn a degree. But some of these kids want to go pro. Basketball, football, they want to go pro, so we do that as well.”
The plan for the girls volleyball program was to open in 2023, adding it to the list of the Academy’s girls sports that also includes basketball, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis and track and field….
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