Lakeland college student's FBA team wins championship months after starting
LAKELAND, Fla. - Southeastern University student Amy Rhodes has always dreamed about owning her own professional sports team. The 22-year-old's dream came true a few months ago when she started a team in the Florida Basketball Association.
Over the weekend, though, a second dream became a reality when the fledgling team, the Lakeland Royals, won the FBA championship. The team beat out the Central Florida Blazers at the eleventh hour.
"We won by two points, 108 to 106. Literally, in the last 1.4 seconds of the game," Rhodes told FOX 13. "It was a feeling I can’t even describe."
Rhodes is the youngest person to ever own an FBA team, and the only woman to own one.
"People say you can’t do it," she said. "But it's not about what they tell you, it is about what you tell yourself. If you tell yourself you’re going to win, if you tell yourself you’re definitely enough to go after what you want, you can achieve it. Our story is proof of that."
Rhodes already has a few new things on her bucket list. She wants to find sponsors, develop a youth league and build a place the Royals can call home.
"The only direction is up," she said.