Mountain Village Being Eyed For International Sports Academy

[Wikimedia photo]

Telluride is in the running, along with Steamboat Springs and Park City, for a $40-110 million year-round international sports academy. The private Next Level Institute-Springbok International School & Sports Academy, which is currently building its first campus in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, is looking for a mountain town to host a winter sports academy, and is planning on building an academic campus and dorms along with an ice rink, climbing wall, indoor and outdoor fields, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, a track and field facility, indoor tennis and basketball courts, and a bowling alley. While the campus would be private and all the money would be raised through private investors, representatives behind Sprinkbok, a South African term signifying excellence in sport, say one of the major public benefits would be open to the public, opening up a destination training facility similar to Woodward Copper that would also be a major boon for local athletes.

Wherever it ends up, the sports academy would host roughly 500 students, roughly a quarter of whom would be international. Springbok plans to make a decision by the end of the month, and Telluride officials are hoping the facility ends up in Mountain Village, which they think would provide the town with more incoming visitors during the traditional shoulder seasons.
· Mountain Village considered for 500 student sports academy [The Watch]
· Springbok Sports Club & Academy