Turning midtown into an academic and athletic campus

Writer: Sylvie Sparks
Published: Updated:
Pitch Prime Campus

Student-athletes have a lot on their plates from practice to midterms.

It’s not always easy juggling both, but what if there was a campus right here in southwest Florida that would make excelling in school and in sport seamless for the student athlete?

A group in Fort Myers wants to make the area around City of Palms Park the next destination for great athletes.

“This is just about preparing them for the next level and teaching them how to be leaders,” D1 Training co-owner Jaylen Watkins said. “Teach them how to take care of their bodies and then they can take that message back to their teams wherever they play.”

Pitch Prime LLC wants student athletes to be able to take classes and train with professional athletes all in a one stop shop.

“Kids will be able to get a college style environment right here in our hometown and be prepared to go to the next level,” Watkins said.

Students will study at the Florida Sports Virtual Academy, train with NFL alums at D1 Training and practice with former professional hockey players at RZR Edge Hockey Academy.

“It’s going to give that campus feel during the school year in those 8-4 hours, FSVA owner and founder Andrew Locantora said. “There’s going to be a lot of kids throughout this area basically getting all their work done and getting training done at the same time.”

The project, anchored by turning City of Palms Park into a professional soccer stadium, includes an expansion to the Skatium, developing a community field, pickleball courts, and more.

“Any revitalization of any area is a benefit to all the community,” RZR Edge Hockey Academy owner Rich Dantona said. “I think if there wasn’t a desire, we would have gotten this far.”

The development group thinks serious student athletes would jump at this chance

“I think we have a lot of kids that are here trying to achieve big things and our message is that they go hand in hand,” Watkins said.

When the project is complete they expect to be able to accommodate up to 200 student athletes.

Project negotiations with the city should start sometime in the next week.

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