Gabe Jaramillo

Club Med Launches New Academy Model at Sandpiper Resort Star Talent from IMG Academies Joins Ranks of Club Med Sandpiper International Tennis Academy

(Miami - February 7, 2009) Today Club Med (http://www.clubmed.us) and the International Tennis Academy (ITA)( www.itausa.com ) announced that several high profile tennis figures will join the ranks of Club Med’s International Academy initiative.  The ITA at Club Med Sandpiper in Port St Lucie, Florida is the first in a series of  high performance sports academies at Club Med. The program targets juniors, adults, families and professionals, providing both the aspiring individual as well as the all- inclusive resort guest the opportunity to participate and learn in a world level high performance training environment. 

Gabriel Jaramillo is among the new talent recruited to lead the Club Med Sandpiper Tennis Academy. Jaramillo has coached such Grand Slam Players as Andre Agassi, Maria Sharapova, Pete Sampras, Monica Seles, during the past 30 years. Integral in developing and creating eight number one, and 26 top ten players, Jaramillo served as director of the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy for 26 years. 

The Club Med Sandpiper ITA program has also enlisted the former Senior Vice President of IMG, Director of IMG Academies Greg Breunich. Known for being the genius behind the creation of IMG Academies, the largest and most successful multi-sport, training and educational academy model in the world, Breunich brings 30 years of academy experience to Club Med. Breunich and Jaramillo will be implementin a global academy concept focused on multiple sport disciplines beginning with tennis and golf at Club Med Sandpiper.

“The Academy at Club Med Sandpiper represents the next generation in individualized sports academies. We’ve married the finest in hospitality with the finest in sports, letting each partner focus on what they do best. At the year round academy and weekly camps, every junior player will receive highly specialized training blending individualized coaching in the morning and group training in the afternoon, with an hour of conditioning five days a week,” commented Greg Breunich. “We believe that this model strategically positioned around the world within the Club Med network of resorts will be a major producer of future champions.” 

Jaramillo and Breunich will combine forces with current ITA tennis expert, Scott Del Mastro.  

Scott Del Mastro, with 17 years of experience, is a force behind of one of the top academies in the world. Like Jaramillo, he has coached and trained numerous high ranking professional players as well as countless young athletes from more than 50 countries. Del Mastro has provided academy scholarships annually to young deserving athletes and secured college scholarships to some of the most prominent colleges in the U.S. for many athletes that attended the ITA. 

Scott Del Mastro commented, “Combining Gabriel Jaramillo and the team with Club Med’s resources and infrastructure gives us the ability to achieve something unique in the world of tennis training. Our full time program will provide players with the only individualized and customized player development experience in the world. Many people talk about developing the complete player/athlete/individual but we will be the only one who can deliver due to our methodology and the limited enrollment that we will be accepting into the program. This new sport academy model truly sets the mark for developing champions in life and winners in sport providing teens the tools they need to succeed.”  

The ITA at Sandpiper offers serious junior players intensive weekly programs throughout the year, summer camps, and annual academy boarding for junior players interested in an intense training experience.  The junior programs deliver a parallel approach to all aspects associated with developing the complete player and total athlete. 

Guests at Club Med Sandpiper will also have the opportunity to train with the pros as part of the all-inclusive package. Club Med’s all-inclusive tennis programs start for players as young as four years old. The daily group classes will teach guests to improve their game in a professional training environment. More dedicated players, who want to train one on one with a pro, can enroll in reasonably priced private lessons and benefit from video stroke analysis and intensive workshops.  

“Hosting a high performance tennis academy at Club Med Sandpiper allows us to provide world class tennis delivery to all of our guests at no additional cost to them. Now, as part of Club Med’s all-inclusive package, every guest can train with pros like Gabriel Jaramillo.  The program is structured to allow guests to specialize as much as they like,” said Xavier Mufraggi, CEO Club Med North America.

 About the International Tennis Academy USA

The International Tennis Academy USA (ITA) was founded in 1996 to become one of the worlds elite high performance training centers. Starting with four coaches and seven athletes, the ITA slowly grew into a world renowned training facility employing ATP, WTA, ITF, NCAA, and USTA coaches who have trained and helped develop over 10,000 aspiring athletes from nearly 50 countries. Regardless of cultural or socio-economic backgrounds only one common language is spoken – tennis.

The ITA is also a College Preparatory program with extensive and comprehensive college placement services. In the past thirteen years, ITA has generated million of dollars in athletic scholarships and placed athletes in  the most prestigious institutions in the U.S., such as Columbia University, Georgia Tech, Duke, Harvard, Stanford, Pepperdine, University of Pennsylvania, and Boston College.

Junior players can enroll in the ITA programs at www.ITAUSA.com

 Club Med

To enroll in Club Med Great Members visit www.clubmed.us/greatmembers or call 1-800-ClubMed. For an insider look at guest experiences visit Club Med’s newly launched social media site at www.ClubMedInsider.com