We are a new men’s semi-pro basketball team coming to Lakeland Florida.
We are associated with the Florida Basketball Association (FBA) under the direction of Mark King (owner of the Florida Flight) and Greg Kite (two-time NBA Champion and Commissioner of the FBA).
Much like the FBA, we believe in providing an opportunity for young men to continue to build their platform as professional athletes and excel in their basketball careers. We believe in building, guiding, and developing our athletes to be more than just athletes but to be leaders in their communities. As a team we are more than just another basketball team, we are a team of professionals, entrepreneurs, and leaders. Together we will make history as not only a new team but as the first female-owned basketball team in the FBA.
Meet Our Owner and Our Coaching Staff
Lakeland Royals has the honor of being the first female-owned team in the FBA.
It is under the direction of Amy Rhodes that we have this opportunity to be a part of history. Ms. Rhodes is a former pro athlete herself and has since gone on to coach basketball at both the middle and high school levels. She believes in providing opportunities to athletes who have been looked over by other coaches and programs. She believes it is necessary to build up, guide, mentor, and lead the future athletes of tomorrow to be more than just athletes but as individuals who are leading and impacting their communities.
Rhodes keeps herself busy. She is a Southeastern football team manager, weight room attendant, and is a contracted instructor with the Air Force helping with aquatics. She credits her multi-tasking to her father, who is a Marine veteran, pastor and owns a real estate company. She attributes her love for the community and kids to her mother, who is a school teacher. Yet it still seems like a dream for her to own a basketball team at such a young age.
Contact: [email protected]
Our team is being led by Head Coach Charles Jeune also known as Coach Chop. Coach Chop is originally from New York and has an extensive basketball history as both a coach and a player. As A player Chop has played at SUNY Rockland Community College (2 years), A two-time NJCAA Champion, D3 Player at College of Mount Saint Vicent (1 year), former NAIA player at Southeastern University (1 year), and has coached for seven years in the #1 basketball league in Hudson Valley “VOH Basketball”. We are honored to welcome Coach Chop to the Royals family and we are excited to see where our team goes under his leadership.
Contact: [email protected]
Lakeland Royals is honored to welcome our Assistant Coach, Coach David Thornton. Thornton was a military brat but call Atlanta, Ga and New York home. Thornton has an incredible basketball history his freshman year in high school he played with NBA veteran Josh Powell and won a state championship before moving to Hoover, Al. There he honed his skills and lead the Bucs in assists and steals. Thornton went on to receive his B.S. in Business at Penn State University. He then pursued playing professionally overseas but that soon came to an end after tearing his achilles, but his journey didn’t end there, Thornton went on to go to law school at Emory University and it was at Emory that he tapped into his training abilities and began to develop young athletes. Thornton has always had a passion for coaching and now we welcome him to the Lakeland Royals team as our assistant coach. Coach Thornton welcome to the Royals family we are excited to watch you take our athletes to the next level.
Contact: [email protected]
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Official team tryouts will be held on November 13th at 9am. In order to attend tryouts you MUST be registered. Registration will close at 11:59pm on November 8th. You can register for tryouts by clicking the registration tab at the top.
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