The Kansas City Wizards on Friday took things to the next level when the club practiced at its new training facility for the first time.
Located in historic Swope Park, one of the nation's largest city parks at 1,805 acres, the new facility accentuates the building architecture and feel of the park setting that surrounds it. Four training fields equipped with different types of grass to handle all seasons are fronted by a 7,000 square-foot main structure that contains many features including offices, a locker room, a players' lounge, a treatment room and a training room with weights and cardio equipment.
Maintained by the Wizards, the facility will also serve the University of Missouri at Kansas City men's soccer team and the Brookside Soccer Club, as well as other young athletes, echoing the generous nature of real estate mogul Thomas Swope who donated the land for the park back in 1896.
The facility is the next logical step for the Wizards in the Kansas City landscape.
"It demonstrates the commitment from the OnGoal, LLC ownership to the players as well as to the people of Kansas City," said Wizards' executive vice president Greg Cotton. "With this multi-million dollar investment by our ownership group to a beautiful state-of-the-art training center, I hope it sends the correct message that our ownership group is committed to the long-term future of the Kansas City Wizards in Kansas City."
The facility is a likely precursor to an even bolder statement of the Wizards as a major player in Kansas City - a dedicated stadium. Currently, the Wizards' developer is on the hunt for a location. Four places are in the running at the moment.
"It's two in Missouri and two in Kansas. ... Basically, we have put together a very attractive overall package led by Lane 4, the developers. They are going to figure out a spot for the Kansas City Wizards, and we are very excited to be part of an overall global development project that includes some very cool cutting-edge retail, a very integrated office complex, hotels, so on and so forth. The soccer stadium is just going to be the shining jewel in that development," Cotton said.
"There is no reason to do this if it doesn't generate revenue for a municipality. At the end of the day, this is going to be an economic engine for the community that wants it. We just need a community to step up and say, 'We do want it.'"
But now the focus is on the training facility, built with the players' comfort and future success as paramount and funded by an ownership group that has consistently stated its desire to provide only the best for its team.
"This is the finest dedicated soccer training center in the country. ... We've been to Bradenton [Florida, home of the U.S. U-17s residency training center], we've been to [the L.A. Galaxy's] Home Depot Center, we've been to Colorado [Dick's Sporting Goods Park], we've seen all the other soccer training centers in the nation and this one blows the doors off all of them," Cotton said. "Not to disparage those, but this one is brand new, it's state of the art, it's beautifully constructed and maintained, and it's going to open some eyes when people see it."
Bob Rusert is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
