How does Masters Academy International’s mission mesh with concerns over the financial and emotional costs of youth sports?

“When I was 12 years old, every night, I did 500 sit-ups and 100 fingertip push-ups, and I thought I was going to play in four Olympics,” Maura Healey said to the crowd gathered last Tuesday. “That did not work out.”

She then recited the popular hymn: sports changes lives. Basketball helped her get into Harvard, and she played a couple of years in Europe. Even those who don’t go pro, she said, will learn the values of teamwork and discipline and self-confidence.

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It landed with nods and applause. Even though MAI has yet to hand out a diploma, the families assembled in front of Healey were betting big — tuition is $65,000 for day students and nearly $80,000 for boarders — that they were making the right play.

We’ll see. MAI claims to offer the best of athletics, academics, and campus life on the sprawling 82-acre former Bose complex in a rural town known for its apple orchards. “Greatness without compromise” is its motto, which caused more than a few chuckles among coaches and administrators in the established prep school scene.

It is partly a story of two brothers with a dream, but also an outgrowth of our region’s insatiable thirst for sports.

Healey’s remarks at the rally included shoutouts to our four major men’s pro teams’ 39 combined championships, Payton Tolle’s immaculate inning, and the number of medals (eight) that Massachusetts athletes won at the 2024 Summer Olympics. She also name-checked the region’s women’s teams — the Fleet (hockey), Legacy (soccer), and Guard (lacrosse), and declared “we are going to get a [WNBA] team here someday — maybe some of you can play on it.”

Of course New England would be the spot for an IMG Academy-style startup run by Chris and Peter Masters, two club hockey coaches. The market is hot. They are capitalizing.

Tom Farrey, executive director of the Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society Program, which studies the youth sports ecosystem, said he understands why.

“I have no doubt Masters will be able to build a good business on the dreams of children from wealthy parents in New England chasing downstream rewards: athletic scholarships, preferential admission to selective colleges, and maybe a chance to play professionally,” he told the Globe.

“The question is: Can they deliver an experience that aligns with best practices in athletic and child development? The evidence suggests that the best way to develop an athlete is to help a child fall in love with sports, hold off on specializing in one sport until high school, and pair it with an education that develops their human and not just athletic potential. Because most of these kids are not actually going to make a living playing sports.”

Burnout is a major issue in youth sports. Studies have shown that 70 percent of kids drop out by age 13 and specialization is a contributing factor, researchers say. Out-of-control costs driven by privatization is another major concern, leaving the door to entry inaccessible to many families.

Could the arrival of private sports academies such as MAI have a worsening effect on those issues in Massachusetts?

“No,” Healey told the Globe. “I do think the point about the need to have some balance is important, and cross-training is important, and the mental and psychological aspects are also important.

“Kids are under a lot of pressure these days, and so that’s why you know any educational institution needs to make sure that it’s providing those supports, as well. And I’m confident that academies like this can do that, and it’ll lead to more successful scholar athletes.”

Emery and Raegan Lawton, All-American lacrosse-playing twins from Portsmouth, N.H., transferred to MAI after three Division 1 state titles at Portsmouth High.

They wondered if MAI was “too good to be true at first,” Raegan said. But they connected with “everyone’s passion and their love and how they are willing to do basically whatever to help us succeed,” Emery said. “And also the values that the school encompasses, like not sacrificing academics for athletics.”

At public school, their mom Kirstin said, the twins were “burning the candle at both ends,” and lacking proper sleep. They are eager to have everything on one campus — and to have teachers who will be forgiving about classroom deadlines.

The Lawton twins, who have committed to play lacrosse at Penn, also played varsity soccer the last three years. Raegan said they’ll miss that, but they also might play in an adult league someday, like their father, Ed. Their grandparents still play golf and tennis.

They might not make a living in sports, but sports are their lives.

“Burnout and stuff, I feel like that’s not really been a problem for us ever,” Emery said. “We both just have such a passion for lacrosse. … We just can’t wait to be so involved with it every day here.”

Kirstin acknowledged her daughters have missed a lot because of sports. They have essentially given up weekends and nights out. Social invites don’t come as often, because friends know they likely won’t be available.

But they’re excited to get to know, learn from, and be inspired by their new teammates.

“Everyone here,” Kirstin said, “has the same goals.”

From the source Matt Porter can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on BlueSky at mattyports.bsky.social.