Tebow to open Florida training facility
Fan CommentsTebow is partnering with Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones to open a new D1 Sports Training Facility in Orlando, which will house an indoor turf field, a state-of-the-art weight room, and a sports medicine and therapy clinic run by Orlando Orthopaedic Center, which is another co-owner of the facility along with Tebow and Jones.
D1, which has 15 other locations as well, has partnered with physicians and numerous athletes – including NFL stars Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, and Ndamukong Suh – to open the facilities, which allow people ages seven and older to train and receive physical therapy as if they were preparing to be Division I athletes.
"It's one of those business opportunities that comes along," Jones said prior to Wednesday’s Braves game against the Marlins in Miami. "D1 in Tampa has done really well. Other D1s around the southeastern United States have done well. It's a chance for young kids to get some constructive exercise from professional athletes."
Tebow himself trained at D1’s Nashville facility prior to the 2010 NFL Draft and is a co-owner of two other facilities; he bought into the group’s Savannah, Ga., facility in April 2011, and joined Jones as a co-owner of D1 Tampa this January.
Now, the two Jacksonville natives have a second partnership in their home state – despite the fact that they have never met.
"I hope to (meet Tebow) in the very near future," Jones said. "He's probably the most recognizable figure in America right now. We're from the same area in Jacksonville. I know he comes from a good family and his faith is as strong as anybody you'll ever meet. That’s my impression of him from afar. That being said, I'm a long-time loyal Gator, and he can do no wrong in my eyes."
He may get the chance to meet the Jets quarterback later this month. Tebow is scheduled to hold a members-only training event June 24 at the new facility in Orlando, which officially opens the next day.
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