Spire Institute and Academy is a preparatoryboarding school and sports training destination in Harpersfield Township, Ohio, United States, near Geneva. There are plans to add a new training hub called SPIRE East in Middle River, Maryland. The sports academy offers a professional preparatory experience for the sports of basketball, swimming and track and field. In addition to the academy, SPIRE offers camp programs for a wide variety of sports including soccer, football, esports and drones. Their facilities have been used for championship conferences and as training centers for Olympic athletes. SPIRE produced and worked with athletes such as LaMelo Ball, Ryan Lochte, and Tim Mack.
History
SPIRE Institute and Academy first opened in 2009 as the GaREAT Sports Complex. At this time there was one building featured a synthetic turf field used for multiple sports including soccer, football and more. In January 2010, the track and field complex was opened for athletes. A second outdoor track and field and outdoor sports complex opened in 2012. On February 23, 2013, SPIRE was declared an Olympic and Paralympic training site by Alicia McConnell, director of training sites and community partnerships for the U.S. Olympic Committee. In February 2014, SPIRE became the designated training site for USA Wrestling, the United States Olympic team. In January 2020, SPIRE was sold to Axxella, a company affiliated with Blue Ocean Realty. There are plans to expand their current programs and offerings.
Programs
Basketball
Coached by Gravelle Craig and Dawud Abdur-Rahkman, the basketball program is open to high school, gap year, and post graduate students. Gravelle Craig previously coached at Bethune-Cookman where the team went 74-123 in his six seasons. Its basketball alumni include LaMelo Ball who has gone on to play in the National Basketball League and Rocket Watts. Rocket has since been recruited by Michigan State and was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. He has also been named as a potential "breakout star" by CBS Sports. Another alum is Robert Bobroczkyi, who stands 7 feet 7 inches, who is still with the program but has been recovering from a recent surgery.
Swimming
SPIRE Institute is an Official FINA Training Centre, one of the only ones in North America. The swimming academy is offered to high school, gap year and post graduate athletes. In February 2020, Ryan Lochte signed on as an international swimming ambassador for the camps, events and programs at SPIRE Institute and Academy. He will be engaging with students, conducting clinics and helping design the swimming program.
Track and Field
The track and filed academy is offered to high school, gap year and post graduate athletes. The facility has hosted the Big Ten Conference for over six years in a row and was set to hold the 2020 conference. In April 2020, it was announced that Tim Mack would be joining SPIRE as their field training and development director. Prior to joining SPIRE, Tim Mack won many awards including an Olympic gold medal while setting a new pole vaulting record of 5.95 meters and has joined the "6 meters club" by finishing first at the 2nd IAAF World Athletics Final. In May 2020, Andrew Liskowitz, a SPIRE athlete, won the shot put title at the Big Ten Championships with the nation’s best mark of 21.02 meters.
Esports
Coached by Robert Skinnion, the esports program is open to high school, gap year, and post graduate students. The esports program is the first of its kind in the country, offering an independent Academy style system for players across a variety of titles.
Camps
SPIRE offers year round camps in multiple sports including esports, drone racing, football, soccer and more.
Future Sports
One aspect of their Future Sports program is drone racing. In June of 2020, it was announced that world-ranked drone racing champion Ian Hemphill is going to teach their drone racing bootcamp. Ian is also a member of the Drone Racing League.
