Jon Bostic unveils plan for 'full-blown private school' at Wellington Sports Academy

Jon Bostic unveils plan for ‘full-blown private school’ at Wellington Sports Academy

Posted by Admin January 10, 2025 Sports

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For more than a decade, a group of local professional sports minds have planned to build a facility designed to equip the modern student-athlete with the tools necessary to evolve their game.

This year, that project – which is headed by former Florida Gators and NFL linebacker Jon Bostic – is moving toward a new dream: an IMG Academy-style program in Palm Beach County.

Bostic announced the intention to develop a private school at the Wellington Sports Academy in Village Park on Friday and said the program would begin accepting applications immediately.

“We kind of gave little hints, you can kind of tell in the name what the plan was the whole time,” Bostic said. “But this is a full-blown private school. We’ve got to get these kids ready to play at the next level.”

According to Bostic, the school will welcome students on Sept. 2, 2025 with the intention of hosting classes and training for the 2025-26 school year. Construction crews broke ground on Sept. 7, 2024 for what is projected to be a $36-million facility.

Additionally, Bostic unveiled a roster of former professional athletes who will make up the coaching staff for the new athletics program.

What is the Wellington Sports Academy?

Bostic and former pro baseball player Devon Travis, friends since the seventh grade, first developed the idea for the academy in 2013.

Since then, they’ve endeavored to create not just a sports facility for the village of Wellington but a private school designed to provide a “unique educational experience for student-athletes.”

The Wellington Sports Academy, featuring a blue “W” logo and a plan for 20 outdoor fields and 13 indoor courts for basketball and volleyball, will begin with a focus on next-level baseball training.

The academy also plans to feature a performance gym, a recovery center and an on-site sports medicine office.

Bostic said the plan is to field four baseball teams in the academy’s first year, with plans to enhance and further their commitment to training athletes in other sports as time goes on.

Under the plan, Wellington’s Village Park would be home to both a megacomplex for sports training as well as the village’s newest private school.

“Our model started just as a training facility, and it started to grow and grow, and that’s when we said, ‘If we really want to have an effect on these kids, we’ve got to take it a step further,’ ” Bostic said. “We’re going to win a lot of games. But I don’t care about wins. I care about putting these kids into college.”

As a facility with intentions to help nurture the academic and athletic needs of student-athletes, the academy’s mission statement explains that the “accredited curriculum blends rigorous academics with the flexibility required for student-athletes to excel in both their studies and athletic pursuits.”

Who will coach at the Wellington Sports Academy?

In addition to Bostic and Travis, the Wellington Sports Academy boasts former professional athletes as the foundation of the academy’s coaching staff.

Veteran local coaches such as Tony Gullo, who has coached high school baseball for nearly four decades, as well as former major leaguers Sean Burnett, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Brad Peacock, highlight a list of those involved with plenty of star power.

Devon Travis – president of baseball operations and general manager
Jarrod Saltalamacchia – manager and director of player development
Sean Burnett – manager, assistant director of player development, and director of pitching
Brad Peacock – pitching coordinator
Logan Morrison – hitting coordinator
Luis Alicea – infield development coach
Scott Benedict – assistant coach
Tony Gullo – bench coach and infield coordinator
Bryan Alveari – director of hitting
Michael Karpinski – manager and pitching coordinator
Casey Wagnon – assistant coach

Each has his own role, from player development to travel team organization to specialty training when it comes to working with the student-athletes, but the academy also will be hiring other teachers and coaches.

Some of those members have been in contact with Bostic and others at the academy for years, while others will be approached now that the facility has finally entered the public eye.

“There’s nobody in the building that has to be there,” Bostic said. “They’re there because they want to be there. I think that’s the cool part about it.”

The academy is set to become only the second non-MLB facility to have Trajekt Arc technology, according to Bostic, which allows major leaguers to replicate specific pitchers based on data and metrics.

Wellington Sports Academy unveils private school plans

The Wellington Sports Academy aims to not only provide top-tier athletic training but also to give students a unique academic experience.

“With dual enrollment opportunities, advanced courses, and career-focused electives, we prepare our students for success in college and beyond, providing them with a competitive edge in their academic and athletic careers,” the academy’s mission statement reads.

According to Bostic, the academy is accredited for grades 6-12 learning and will include a flexible schedule to allow student-athletes to fulfill both their athletic and academic needs in the span of a normal school day.

A full-service café will be on site, and Bostic said he hopes the academy will allow parents to drop off their students knowing that all needs will be met for the full day.

“When these kids go to college and even in high school, you’re a student-athlete,” Bostic said. “Student comes first. If we’re not developing the student as well as the overall athlete, we’re not going to be able to get to where we want to get to, anyway.”

Wellington village manager Jim Barnes said he was happy with the “great progress” on the academy both in regards to physical construction and program development.

“The athletic and academic programs are taking shape as professional sports who’s who and educational professionals curate programs that develop the whole student-athlete, athletically and academically,” Barnes said.

Alex Peterman covers high school sports for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at apeterman@gannett.com.