Tony and Nyree Bland know what it takes to achieve success at the highest levels of athletic competition and they have been sharing that knowledge with young people in communities throughout New Tampa and Wesley Chapel for more than a dozen years.
“It’s about being the best you can be and having integrity,” says Nyree.
That’s the foundation of the New Tampa couple’s youth sports training company, PROtential Sports, where the stated mission is “Teaching Life Through Sports.”
Achieving high standards of performance through hard work and fair play is what the Blands credit for their own personal and professional successes, on and off the fields of play. Nyree was ranked as the number-one junior tennis player in North Carolina before a knee injury curtailed her professional tennis aspirations. Tony was a wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings for four years, including the team’s historic 16-victory season in 1998. He played behind NFL Hall of Famer Cris Carter and future Hall of Famer Randy Moss.
Passing on the insights and lessons from their own experiences is the goal of every after-school program, sports league and summer camp PROtential offers.
“We’re trying to teach them how to be a good person, as well as being a good athlete,” says Nyree.
Their venture into the business side of athletics came about in 2003 when Tony participated in a youth football camp with then-Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Brad Johnson (who was also a teammate of Tony’s at Minnesota) and running back Michael Pittman.
That experience brought home Tony’s own football beginning, as a 14-year-old playing in a youth football league and then catching passes at Pinellas Park High. His focused dedication to athletic achievement became part of his overall lifestyle, including academics, and he earned a scholarship to Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, where he majored in political science.
PROtential district manager Julie Garretson is a lifelong athlete who aspired to a career in physical education and now oversees many of the day-to-day operations of PROtential Sports. Since the youth activities are community-oriented, that means developing relationships with activity and lifestyle directors and stopping by when the children are on-site to check on things.
According to Garretson, PROtential Sports’ after-school programs for students five to 12 years-old are located at Club Tampa Palms, Arbor Greene, Heritage Isles, Grand Hampton and Cory Lake Isles (the latter is for Cory Lake residents only) in New Tampa and at Seven Oaks and Meadow Pointe IV in Wesley Chapel.
“We pick up from all the local schools,” says Garretson. “We do a snack time, a quick study hall and then a sports routine. We do two to three sports a day and try to hit each major sport twice a week.”
Besides getting a chance to learn about and play a variety of sports, including baseball, football, golf, tennis and soccer, kids participating in a PROtential Sports after-school program also learn life skills. Garretson says that whether it’s after school, at one of PROtential’s summer camps or in the company’s competitive leagues, the principles of teamwork and sportsmanship apply.
“We want the kids to always put their best foot forward,” Garretson says, adding that instilling a solid work ethic and sense of compassion in young people — whatever their athletic goals may be — will serve them well in the future. And, she says that’s important for kids to understand.
“You can’t be an athlete forever, but you’re a human being forever,” she says.
There are about 20 coaches working directly with children at PROtential. Experience in sports is a requirement, but according to Garretson, their job qualifications are not just derived from their athletic statistics or backgrounds.
“(Our instructors) should be teachers,” she says. “They are 50-percent life coaches and 50-percent sports coaches.”
One of PROtential’s coaches is Brooks Lovely, who says he has been playing sports since he was 3-years-old. Lovely was an offensive lineman at Maryville College in Maryville, TN, and he also was a football coach at Robinson High in Tampa before signing up with PROtential. Lovely expresses awareness of the responsibility he is entrusted with in working with young people.
“We try to make a positive impact on their lives every day,” says Lovely. “We teach them what we learned in our life through sports, like the importance of teamwork and communication.”
He adds that part of the job sometimes involves helping kids in the after-school program with their homework and instilling a positive attitude about getting good grades. “(We tell the kids that they) need to learn to like school,” he says.
Coach Devonn Polk can easily relate to the kids he’s responsible for at PROtential Sports. The Wharton High grad played tight end for the Wildcats. To him, you’re never too young to learn a sense of responsibility and PROtential Sports offers a way to do that.
“We teach them not just how to play sports, but how to be good leaders,” the Heritage Isles resident says.
The lessons that New Tampa resident Sandra Ferris says her son Alexavier has learned through PROtential Sports makes the program a winner in her view.
“It’s gratifying to watch my son learn a variety of sporting techniques while gaining lifelong leadership and sportsmanship skills,” Ferris says. “I firmly believe that Alexavier will learn to exemplify PROtential Sports’ motto, ‘Teaching Life Through Sports,’ by developing an appreciation for teamwork, perseverance and consistency throughout his adolescence into adulthood.”
NFL Flag Football, Too
While the end of summer means PROtential Sports is right now fielding a lot of inquiries about its after-school programs, it’s also the time of year when interest in football is renewed. For kids who want to compete in organized, limited-contact flag football in a professionally-run league, PROtential Sports offers NFL Flag Football.
The NFL Flag Football program operates under a license granted by the National Football League. It plays a six-on-six style of game, which is known for exciting playmaking on the uncrowded gridiron.
How You Can Get Into The Game With PROtential!
PROtential Sports also gives business-minded adults a way to get in the game through franchise opportunities. The company that Tony and Nyree Bland started more than a decade ago now operates in Riverview and Westchase, as well as New Tampa and Wesley Chapel. Franchising is another area of responsibility for Garretson.
“We have franchise opportunities available in Central Florida and we hope to expand into Pinellas County and Orlando,” Garretson says.
As PROtential Sports continues to grow, it sometimes means Nyree and Tony dress for doing business a little more often than they do coaching on the field. But, whether it’s business or sports, Nyree says whatever success they’ve achieved can always be traced back to the core values that have guided her and Tony throughout their lives.
“Having integrity and showing good character,” she says. “Because that’s all you have, is your integrity and your word.”
More information about NFL Flag Football, after-school programs, sports leagues, camps and franchise opportunities is available at PROtentialSports.com or by calling 843-9460. You also can check out Episode 3 of WCNT-tv for a special segment featuring PROtential Sports at NTNeighborhoodnews.com or Youtube/WCNT-tv.
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