The coaches hired so far are all listed on the instagram page with their coaching history. Teachers haven’t been posted yet as someone above explained that academic faculty hiring window and announcement timeline is probably happening over these next few months https://www.instagram.com/mastersacademyinternational
1 Like
Anyone happen to have any insight as to how enrollment is going?
While I’ve heard local kids say they were interested, I haven’t heard local parents say they are spending the money. The interest only seems to be from middle school kids as middle schools don’t have big sports programs.
It’s funny, but I was thinking that for less than 1/2 the money, local kids have access to some Catholic schools with great sports outcomes, known quality education and non competitive admissions. Then, just today, two of them were listed as top 20 sports schools in the country. So, what I actually see happening, is that this school may not attract top tier local high school kids, but kids that can’t make it on to the teams at the top sports outcome private schools (All are parochial schools, so on the less expensive private schools) or even public schools. Some of the teams at our school are so competitive that kids go to private schools to make teams.
New article states MAI has filled most of the PG and upper class baseball. From what this reads, there will be a total of 2 baseball teams of 18.
For me personally, chasing championships every season can be stressful and a grind,” Graber said. “Here, it’s purely about player development. What are your goals? Where are you now? What do you need for those doors to open? I’m good at evaluating kids, determining what bridges need to be gapped, and figuring out the path to get there.”
At Masters, every sports program will have its own Director of Operations, a de facto athletic director who will design a program to maximize the athletic potential of the athletes. Longtime Expos Baseball travel ball director and North Shore Navigators owner Rich Gilbride will fill that role for the baseball program. He has already recruited 18 prospects, including 10 postgraduates, for a national team. He also has 15-16 player commitments for ninth- and 10th-graders who will play on a underclass varsity team. Moriarty estimated that 65 to 70 percent are from New England”
2 Likes
Thanks for sharing. Looks like the baseball program came together quickly, and seemingly is not having recruiting issues (for players or coaches/admin.) Will be interesting to see how this develops. A fall ball schedule of 25 games is ambitious for the first year.
Hopefully that’s split between the 2 teams. Agree that’s very aggressive right out of the gate!
1 Like
Bigger question is what league are the teams playing in? I see mixed communication about just playing local and national games, like friendlies?
I think, for example Soccer, some of the leagues you need to be established and invited to join.
Not sure about baseball?
The article says they will play junior colleges, JV college teams and prep teams (non-conference) with no league championship chasing. Development based only.
Yes and no, wouldn’t the size of Duke help provide enough classes to enable more academically focused students and those who are less, separate classrooms? While a brand-new school with limited enrollment would not have the same resources (at least at first)…
There is another article in the Boston Globe today that gives no new information. Anyone have any updates?
There are a lot of sports mentioned in the article, but I’m not sure whether they’ll have facilities for all of the sports mentioned. The article only mentions one indoor field initially, a warehouse with a baseball field with a shortened outfield. Where will all the other sports train during the winter?
The idea to rent the fields to local teams an tournaments after 5:00pm is a good one and will generate a reliable source of revenue during those seasons. But what will they do with the baseball fields in the fall? MAI baseball teams will need baseball fields, but outside teams may want soccer fields or field-hockey fields. So the funding model in the off-seasons may fall short unless they can find travel teams that can commit to the full year.
How is this sustainable? The best athletes have access to prep school for free. I assume the tuition of the non-scholarship makes up for the lack of tuition for scholarship kids. Why would an elite athlete pay 79K if they have the option to go to school for free at an ISL school with a history of developing athletes? What makes this place so special that a parent would send an athlete (hockey for example) and pay 79K for MIA instead of going to school for free at like a Cushing Academy which has a track record of producing pro/college players? It seems like MIA wont target elite athletes. They will target parents who are gullible enough to believe their kids are Elite. Elite athletes play for free or get paid to play.
IMO, not all elite athletes have the option to go to boarding school for free. MAI’s model is more like IMG’s than a traditional boarding school, for example, they will utilize a split-day schedule. I expect MAI will give some athletes scholarships, but yes, that’s a competitive space. So, MAI may lose some athletes who received a higher discount at a different school. But again, IMO, getting to spend a half day training (something they don’t have at many boarding schools) will be attractive to some athletes
I can’t speak to whether MAI will be successful or not. IMO they have accomplished a lot so far: striking a strategic partnership deal with USA Fencing (MAI is the US national training center for the sport, the first deal of its kind), using the academic curriculum of the Newman school, hiring a roster of experienced coaches and administrators.
There are plenty of people with the money to pay, just like those who pay at IMG. Time will tell if MAI is successful, and the level of athletes it attracts.
Will MAI likely join NEPSAC or play an independent nationally focused schedule like the Hun School (Princeton, NJ) in football?
At least for baseball, the season is very short for NEPSAC schools. Plus, there are strict guidelines about out of season activities.
The New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) maintains strict Out-of-Season Coaching Policies aimed at preventing early specialization and encouraging students to participate in multiple sports.Key restrictions of this policy include:Prohibited Institutional Support: Schools cannot provide uniforms, release time, or academic credit for sports played outside their designated season.No Team Coaching: Coaches are not allowed to coach their school’s varsity athletes on non-school teams during the academic year.Strict Contact Limitations: Coaches can only provide occasional, informal, skill-oriented instruction to a maximum of three student-athletes at a time outside of the assigned sport’s season. These sessions must be voluntary and cannot be part of regularly scheduled, supervised workouts.Because NEPSAC serves as a sanctioning and guidance organization rather than an enforcement body, member schools are also bound by the specific out-of-season bylaws of their individual local leagues (such as the ISL, Founders League, etc.).If you have a specific sport or league in mind, let me know, and I can help you look into their exact out-of-season bylaws.
2 Likes
That’s excellent information. Thanks. NEPSAC is a quality organiztion consisting of the best prep schools in the country. I would say MAI’s athletic mission is not consistent with the athletic mission of the schools in NEPSAC.
1 Like
Seems like MAI is going to remain independent. They do intend for basketball to join the Nike EYBL scholastic league per this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkld6rmpwj4 The team is not yet listed on the EYBL site though.
ETA: This Boston Globe article has a lot of recent updates, MAI expects 300 students on campus this fall. I don’t have BG subscription, so this is from archiveph: https://archive.ph/NG3LD
1 Like
I don’t see how MAI can maintain its year round sports philosophy and join any of the typical prep school leagues. I just wonder who they’re going to play in baseball in January? IMG? If MAI teams are so much better than local travel teams they will need to travel extensively to get the level of play that the athletes will expect. I’m assuming that the $80k cost won’t include the travel for these offseason games as well, which will quickly add up.
1 Like
Doesn’t seem like the intent, based on the website and other sources, is to join any conferences, ala IMG.
All I know about baseball is what’s in the Boston globe article above:
It’s 20 to 25 games in the fall, 40 games in the spring, and 120 to 130 practices,” said coach Patrick Moriarty, who came from Deerfield Academy, “as opposed to 20 spring games and 35 to 40 practices.”
IMO this is a much better practice to game ratio than what is typical in ‘elite’ baseball.
I can’t comment as to whether or not they have priced high enough or if the COA, includes travel.
1 Like
Will be interesting to see how the year goes. I’ve seen player announcements for the sport I’m most familiar with, and seems to be mostly local public school kids who are solid but not stars with a number of PGs who didn’t get recruited for the next level buying time. I’m not sure they pulled many from the high-academic level prep schools. Maybe the model works for a PG-focused program if the recruiting comes through.
1 Like