Our Story

Nevada Sports Academy wasn’t created in a boardroom or by investors looking to start another travel ball organization... It started in 2013 with two dads.

John Pashales and Barney Dion met while coaching their sons in Tee Ball at Paseo Verde Little League. Like so many parents, they loved watching kids play, compete, and build friendships. But they also believed there was an opportunity to create something different. They envisioned an organization where athletes could train together year-round, compete at a high level, and, most importantly, develop the character and life skills that would stay with them long after the final game.

That vision became Nevada Sports Academy.

In the early years, NSA fielded baseball and soccer teams while many of the same athletes also competed together in Henderson Flag Football. The goal was never simply to build great baseball or soccer players. It was to build confident, resilient young people through sports.

As the organization grew, so did the opportunities.

The soccer program experienced tremendous success before eventually moving in a different direction, allowing NSA to focus its energy on building something that would become the organization’s foundation: baseball.

Growth wasn’t always easy. Like many successful organizations, NSA experienced coaches leaving to pursue their own opportunities. Instead of chasing short-term success, NSA stayed committed to its mission. New coaches were brought in, relationships were built, and the culture remained stronger than any individual.

That commitment continues to define the organization today.

In 2018, a group of high school parents approached NSA with a simple request.

Their sons had spent years playing youth baseball, but they didn’t feel prepared for the speed, expectations, and challenges of high school baseball. They had seen the way NSA coaches taught the game and developed players, and they wanted that same approach at the next level.

From those conversations, NSA Baseball was born.

Since then, hundreds of athletes have continued their journey through the organization, preparing not only for high school baseball but for college, careers, and adulthood. Some have gone on to play collegiate and professional baseball. Others have become police officers, financial advisors, medical professionals, business owners, educators, and leaders throughout the community.

To NSA, every one of those success stories matters equally. Because our definition of success has never been limited to athletics.

In 2022, NSA expanded once again with the launch of NSA Stars Fastpitch under the leadership of longtime softball leader Denise Morris. Her knowledge of club and collegiate softball helped establish a program built on the same principles that had guided NSA since day one.

As both baseball and softball continued to grow, the organization evolved again in 2024 by creating separate youth and upper-division pathways. NSA Stars Baseball and NSA Stars Fastpitch now serve athletes ages 12 and younger, while NSA Baseball and NSA Fastpitch focus on preparing older athletes for high school, college, and beyond. Dedicated directors now lead each division, providing families with greater support while preserving one unified culture across the organization.

Today, nearly fifteen years after two dads first imagined a different kind of youth sports experience, the mission remains unchanged.

We exist to teach life lessons through sport.

We believe the scoreboard matters, but character matters more.

We believe championships are earned through preparation, discipline, and teamwork.

We believe confidence is built through adversity.

We believe coaches should be mentors before they are instructors.

We believe every athlete deserves to be challenged, encouraged, and cared for.

Whether an NSA athlete goes on to play college baseball, college softball, professional sports, enters the military, starts a business, becomes a first responder, works in healthcare, or chooses any other path in life, our hope is the same - That they leave Nevada Sports Academy better prepared for life than when they arrived.

That’s what has guided us since 2013... That’s what guides us today...And that’s what will guide every athlete who wears an NSA uniform for years to come.

Character. Commitment. Community.