Former NBA star Kobe Bryant has launched the Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, Calif., as a multi-sport training facility for young athletes. The 100,000 square foot facility will include a biomechanics lab, a cognitive training lab, and an esports training ground.
The Sports Academy originally opened in 2016 under CEO and founder Chad Faulkner, but the organization is rebranding as part of Bryant’s inclusion. The operation also includes five basketball courts, five volleyball courts, a turf field, a sports medicine practice, batting cages and pitching mounds, close quarters defense training, a jiu-jitsu school, a sprint track, a learning center for academic tutoring and training, and a yoga or cycling studio.
“Sports Academy has perfected the art and science of athletic training, from elite players to young kids getting started. MAMBA Sports Academy is a natural expansion of my commitment to educating and empowering the next generation of kids through sports,” Bryant said in a press release.
More than 50,000 young athletes have signed up for the academy since 2016. MAMBA Sports Academy will consist of three business divisions—physical training academies, a sports focused venture lab, and the MAMBA Sports charity foundation. The venture lab is focused on cognition in sports, strategic investments, and supporting science, technology, education, arts, and math education. According to the Mamba Sports Academy website, the organization has partnered with Axon Sports to create a line of digital cognition training products planned for release in early January 2019.
“We look forward to how Kobe’s involvement will move us forward in the areas of on-site training, digital cognitive training, content creation, investments and charitable endeavors,” Faulkner said in the press release. All new re-branding changes to the Mamba Training Facility are expected to be completed by January 2019.
SportTechie Takeaway
There have been rumors suggesting Bryant would eventually enter the esports space over the past couple of years. Given his new youth sports academy will include an esports training facility, perhaps Bryant is not far off from investing in an esports organization, similar to fellow NBA icon Michael Jordan’s recent investment in Axiomatic. The inclusion of the venture lab might suggest that Bryant may be interested in exploring how technology can improve athlete training and performance.