BRADENTON, FL — Steven Scott didn't have to look far to find IMG Academy.
The volleyball opportunities he wanted were another story.
Scott, a Parrish, Florida, native, spent years driving roughly 90 minutes each way for club volleyball and traveling even farther to play high school volleyball.
Florida's boys volleyball scene has grown rapidly, with more than 250 schools now fielding teams. State participation reached 4,298 players in 2025-26, up from 2,591 a decade earlier, while national participation has grown even faster, from 55,417 to 98,395 over the same span. But Florida's footprint remains concentrated in metros such as Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Tampa and Orlando.
For Scott, high-level volleyball still meant a long drive. That
changed this year when IMG Academy launched its first boys volleyball program.
"You're constantly in the gym, either working out or playing, and I don't think that's something anyone else in the country has here," Scott said. "We have a great opportunity to really grow as a team."
IMG isn't simply trying to add another team to Florida's growing boys volleyball landscape. The Bradenton-based academy is attempting to establish itself as a destination for players who want a year-round development environment, particularly those who previously had to travel significant distances to find one. That can be hard in a state that takes 12 hours to get from Key West to Pensacola.
And Scott is already providing an early example of what that could look like.
The senior, who started playing volleyball in seventh grade, verbally committed to Pepperdine about a month ago. He said he never expected that path when he first picked up the sport.
"I started playing for a homeschool team in this area, and then moved around high schools and clubs, and then now I'm here," Scott said.
IMG's arrival has given Scott a chance to play close to home while training at a high level every day.
"I feel like I have a little bit of team pride in the sense that this is my home," Scott said. "This is where I'm from, and IMG is our area."
The opportunity is particularly significant because boys volleyball has historically been more established in pockets of Florida than others.
Scott said Tampa, Orlando and South Florida have been among the areas with more opportunities, while the sport has continued to spread to new schools. He estimates four or five schools in his area have added boys volleyball teams since he began playing.
"For it to be here and to start growing here, I've heard that a couple other schools in this area are looking into getting other teams," Scott said. "It's so cool that it's starting to grow."
IMG wants to be part of that growth, and believes its biggest advantage is what it can offer beyond a traditional high school season or club schedule.
Gilad Doron, IMG's Director of Volleyball, said the program received significant interest immediately after its launch. But families had a fundamental question before committing to a new program: Why leave home to come to IMG?
"If you care about your development, if you care about us having five days a week training and putting all of it together, there's no other place in the country that will give you this kind of training professionally, mentally, technically, emotionally. All the stuff that you need to," Doron said.
IMG hired Zach Richardson, who came from the men's volleyball world after playing at BYU and coaching at Long Beach, to lead the new program. Doron, who played for Israel's national team and coached boys volleyball overseas earlier in his career, spent 23 years on the women's side of college athletics before coming to IMG.
Richardson's experience helped IMG navigate a boys volleyball landscape that was new to much of the academy's existing structure.
"I couldn't be happier with the product that we have right now in the first year," Doron said.
The inaugural roster also reflects IMG's national and international ambitions. Scott said roughly half of the team is international, bringing players from different backgrounds and cultures into the same gym.
"Everyone comes from completely different backgrounds," Scott said. "It's cool to see their cultures and how they react and how they joke and everything."
For IMG, the goal is to turn that environment into a sustainable pipeline.
Scott's Pepperdine commitment is an early milestone. Doron said IMG's first college coaches' showcase is scheduled to bring 10 college coaches to campus, giving the boys on the roster, as well as other players from the area, an opportunity to work in front of college programs.
The hope is that Scott won't be the last IMG player to turn the program into a pathway to college volleyball.
"It's huge for us," Doron said of Scott's commitment. "It's huge for him and his family."
It also gives younger players on the roster a tangible example of where the program can lead.
Doron has bigger ambitions still.
His goal over the next five years is to make IMG the premier destination for volleyball players who want to maximize their potential. The girls program has already established itself nationally, including a team that won the Northeast, double-qualified in Open and reached No. 2 in the country at one point, according to Doron.
Now the boys program gets its chance. And Doron believes IMG's centralized model can provide something that traditional club volleyball can't.
"At IMG, you can get everything in one place," Doron said.
For players like Scott, that can mean more than simply spending more time in the gym. It can mean spending less time in the car.
Scott remembers driving an hour and a half, sometimes two hours or more, multiple times a week during his own volleyball experiences. At IMG, Doron said, local athletes can finish training around 5:30 p.m. and still be home for dinner.
The idea is simple: maximize development without making the commute part of the development. Scott, meanwhile, is preparing for his final season before heading to Malibu.
"I can't wait," he said. "The doors God's opened for me in my life, and I can't wait to go step through that one and go play at a very high level and train and be out in Malibu."
For IMG, Scott's next step could be a glimpse of what comes next.
"We're just starting," Doron said. "Hopefully when you come back in a few years, we can talk about all the great things we accomplished."
Follow Sports Reporter Alex Martin on X at @AlexMartinUSAT or via email: amartin@usatodayco.com. For additional high school sports coverage, be sure to follow USA TODAY High School Sports on Instagram and X.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Inside IMG Academy's bold plan to become a national boys volleyball destination
