National Sports Academy to close after 38 years

By Published On: May 24th, 2015Comments Off on National Sports Academy to close after 38 years

The Board of Trustees at the National Sports Academy, a private secondary school for wintersport athletes in Lake Placid, N.Y., announced on Friday that the school plans to permanently close and file a liquidation plan under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code following graduation of the Class of 2015 at the end of May.

The school was founded in 1977 by David Wenn as a winter tutorial program for elite ski racers and was originally named Mountain House. In 1981, it became a 10-month school for skiers, hockey players, ice skaters, and bobsled and luge athletes. The school changed its name to National Sports Academy in 1989 and notes several notable skiing alumni including Olympians A.J. Kitt, Billy Demong, Nick Alexander, and Lindsey Van.

“It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to this wonderful and unique little school in the heart of the Adirondacks that has given so much to so many,” school officials said via a press release. “The NSA family and memories will live on indefinitely.”

National Sports Academy faced numerous financial and enrollment struggles in recent years and was most recently saved by a $206,500 loan in 2012.

Six months ago, officials rallied to save the Lake Placid icon once again in a fundraising effort, but the movement fell short and the school was forced to file for bankruptcy in January amid greater financial woes. The student body size dropped from 60 in 2012 to just 19 in 2014, as reported by Lake Placid News, partially as a result of the termination of the women’s ice hockey program that year.

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