A staple of traditional sports training is coming to esports, with talent management agency IMG opening its Academy for esports players—and one iconic esports organization is already at boot camp.
IMG Academy is a training institute and boarding school for professional athletes based in Bradenton, Florida, that focuses on sports training and education. Notable alumni and trainees includes tennis players Andre Agassi and Maria Sharapova, football quarterback Cam Newton, soccer player Tim Howard, and basketball player Amar’e Stoudemire.
CompLexity Gaming‘s Call of Duty players are the first in esports to take part in the IMG Academy program, with three of them flying into the institute on Wednesday night for two days of training.
“We are excited to welcome compLexity to IMG Academy to train both mentally and physically,” says Tobias Sherman, head of esports at WME | IMG. “As the sports industry continues to recognize the parallels between esports and mainstream athletes, IMG Academy was a natural fit to provide facilities and coaching that will enhance the training of esports franchises moving forward.”
The training is part of the Academy’s Athletic and Personal Development program and includes physical and mental conditioning, brain training, nutrition and lifestyle education, and leadership development. Experts oversee each phase and try to maximize each player’s performance.
Jason Lake, compLexity’s founder and CEO and a veteran of the esports industry, has seen esports grow from the ground up, and now that it’s finally getting its spotlight next to traditional sports, he’s happy that compLexity is the first esports organization to use the training program.
“I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside and training gamers for 13 years,” Lake said, “and this type of well-rounded training and education through IMG Academy’s experts is a dream come true for our team.”
