FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — The contrast couldn’t be more striking for retired striker Jozy Altidore as he visited the newly opened U.S. Soccer National Training Center in Georgia. The $250 million facility spanning 200 acres with 19 fields stands in sharp contrast to where his 2014 squad used to recover in a plastic cold tub positioned on pavement outside Stanford’s Cagan Stadium in California.
“This is the culmination, right?” Altidore remarked Thursday. “This is what I’m sure past players strived to want to be a part of.”
The transformation of American soccer infrastructure has been dramatic as the nation gears up to host the World Cup next month. Sunil Gulati, who later served as U.S. Soccer Federation president, remembered having to purchase soccer balls from a Kmart on the day of a scrimmage in Colorado Springs, Colorado. That 1985 match featured players competing for roster spots for the FIFA Under-16 World Championship, and sprinklers even activated during the game.
Training conditions improved gradually over the decades. Before the 1994 World Cup, the Americans used a $3.5 million, seven-acre site that opened in 1993 in Mission Viejo, California. The team later utilized a Chula Vista, California facility for the 1998 tournament, followed by training in Cary, North Carolina for both 2002 and 2006. Princeton hosted preparations in 2010, with Stanford serving as the base in 2014.
More recently, the national squad conducted practices at Major League Soccer club facilities. The current training center, which officially opened May 7, received a $50 million founding donation from Arthur Bank, who owns both the Atlanta Falcons and an MLS franchise. Construction took place on former cattle grazing land approximately 25 miles from Atlanta, and the facility now serves all 27 U.S. national teams.
“It’s nice to have the first rights of everything that you want to do here,” explained midfielder Tyler Adams, who captained the American squad at the 2022 World Cup. “Whenever you train at an MLS facility or something like that, it’s their facility. You’re a guest.”
The complex features 13 regulation-size natural grass fields across three tiers, plus two additional artificial turf surfaces, two sand fields for beach soccer, and two indoor pitches. The USSF relocated its headquarters from Chicago to this center, which contains 20 locker rooms, 19 conference spaces, a 10,000-square-foot fitness center, and a kitchen with adjoining dining space.
Administrative offices occupy the second level, with some providing views of the primary training fields where the World Cup squad has been practicing.
“From my office, you can see the grass. It’s the first time I’ve ever been excited to see grass grow,” said USSF CEO JT Batson.
The USSF studied international models during development, including England’s St. Georges Park and France’s national team training center at Clairefontaine.
Team members are lodging at a hotel in the neighboring community of Trilith. This region has experienced rapid development following the establishment of Trilith Studios, a film and television production facility where Marvel Studios creates its movies.
Defender Chris Richards will join the group last, arriving Friday after staying with Crystal Palace for Wednesday’s UEFA Conference League final in Germany.
World Cup roster players observed the women’s under-16 squad during Wednesday’s training session.
“They can see the first team and how they move and how the operate and that’s the goal of where they want to end up,” Adams noted. “As a youth national team player, if I could have ever had the opportunity to be even close to the senior team, that would have been really special because that’s your dream.”
