USSF targets national training facility by 2026

Discussion in 'USA Men: News & Analysis' started by xbhaskarx, Jan 11, 2022.

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What metro area would be the best location for a US Soccer national training facility? (pick 2 / 15)

Poll closed Apr 26, 2022.
  1. Washington DC

    4 vote(s)
    12.9%
  2. New York City

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  3. Los Angeles

    4 vote(s)
    12.9%
  4. Dallas

    4 vote(s)
    12.9%
  5. Houston

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  6. Austin

    4 vote(s)
    12.9%
  7. Atlanta

    5 vote(s)
    16.1%
  8. Orlando

    4 vote(s)
    12.9%
  9. Denver

    1 vote(s)
    3.2%
  10. Kansas City

    2 vote(s)
    6.5%
  11. St Louis

    4 vote(s)
    12.9%
  12. Chicago

    4 vote(s)
    12.9%
  13. Nashville

    2 vote(s)
    6.5%
  14. Charlotte

    3 vote(s)
    9.7%
  15. Miami

    4 vote(s)
    12.9%
Multiple votes are allowed.
  1. gomichigan24

    gomichigan24 Member+

    Jul 15, 2002
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Though England is just a smaller country and the training complex in St. George’s is about a two hour drive from Wembley where England plays virtually every home game (whether friendly or official match).

    If you are going to build a really nice training complex it’d ideally be the staging ground for qualifiers, Nations League games, pre Gold Cup camps, pre World Cup camps, pre Copa America camps, and January camp. Of course the youth teams would use it a ton too, but so would the senior team.

    The question you have to ask about Cary is whether it would even be on the list if not for Cone’s connections. USSF should have a set criteria and they should pick the site based off whatever site best meets that criteria, not because of the President’s ties to the site. If you’re spending 300 million, you better make sure it’s being well spent.
     
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  2. deejay

    deejay Member+

    Feb 14, 2000
    Tarpon Springs, FL
    Club:
    Jorge Wilstermann
    Nat'l Team:
    Bolivia
    As far as direct flights to Western Europe go, Atlanta is tops of any centrally located city. Better than Dallas and slightly better than Chicago. FYI, Raleigh does have a couple of direct flights to London and Paris.

    Source: flightsfrom.com
     
  3. RalleeMonkey

    RalleeMonkey Member+

    Aug 30, 2004
    here
    Average temps in Atlanta in January: low 32, high 53
     
  4. Step Over

    Step Over Member

    Oct 18, 2008
    Atlanta
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #79 Step Over, Feb 7, 2023
    Last edited: Feb 7, 2023
    I'm from Atlanta so I'm admittedly biased. These are the benefits I see potentially here:

    #1 is the airport. Atlanta has non stop flights to pretty much every major city, most important is Europe. You don't want athletes traveling more then needed.

    Cheap land south of city. Relative to the northern suburbs and other major cities there is a lot of available land. Most of the movie/tv studios are built south of the city because of all the available land.

    If it was me I'd buy or partner with the Moba complex. It already has a very high quality 2 turf fields and grass field plus it has indoor and lots of surrounding land. It's about 30 mins drive to airport. Traffic is generally light in the south metro. Someone mentioned crime, it's relatively low in the suburbs. There's some really nice places to live down there where cost of living is a lot lower then other major cities.

    https://www.mobasoccer.com/facilityrental
    [​IMG]

    Weather, the coldest month is January where the average high is 55°. You can train outside all year.

    I'd imagine there's some value to having Mercedes Benz, Atlanta United, and a very big soccer community but, the above benefits are more important.
     
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  5. an1310

    an1310 Member+

    Jun 2, 2003
    Atlanta, GA
    Beats the hell out of Philly, where I lived for more than a decade.
     
  6. Step Over

    Step Over Member

    Oct 18, 2008
    Atlanta
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Here's another picture
    [​IMG]
     
  7. gogorath

    gogorath Member+

    None
    United States
    May 12, 2019
    They can build that anywhere aside from like Manhattan. This is America; we don't do that level of population density that prevents that kind of thing.

    If they build it, they will absolutely use it for camps that European players come to. The youth players probably will spend more time there.

    But travel time is travel time.

    Not at all. I'm not bitching; I'm saying they will regret a place like Raleigh. Atlanta? DFW? Orlando? All good to me. I'd probably pick Orlando all things considered, but I think there's plenty of good choices.

    But as someone who has had to fly to Raleigh for extended periods of time, it SUCKS to get into and out of.

    No one is crying. I just think it is a waste of money.
     
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  8. gomichigan24

    gomichigan24 Member+

    Jul 15, 2002
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think there are few US cities that would top Atlanta on the airport front. Maybe just New York and Chicago and neither of those make sense for obvious reasons.
     
  9. jaykoz3

    jaykoz3 Member+

    Dec 25, 2010
    Conshohocken, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Surprised they aren't looking at New Jersey. Newark has a major international airport that is routinely used by commuters and travelers to get to and from Europe from the US.
     
  10. gogorath

    gogorath Member+

    None
    United States
    May 12, 2019
    Snow, cold, all that jazz. Number one priority has to be a place you can play outdoors all year or close to it. Which is why Kansas City never made a lot of sense to me.
     
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  11. jaykoz3

    jaykoz3 Member+

    Dec 25, 2010
    Conshohocken, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    They could build a bubble, or have indoor fields......like most Northeast teams have,
     
  12. gogorath

    gogorath Member+

    None
    United States
    May 12, 2019
    But who wants that if you don't have to? I am dead certain they want to play on real grass.
     
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  13. jaykoz3

    jaykoz3 Member+

    Dec 25, 2010
    Conshohocken, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    They should split the $250M and build two facilities then. One on the east coast and one on the west coast. That way they have facilities they can use year round, but more importantly they'll have more than one facility for youth teams. The US is a big country, having 2 or more regional facilities would help cast a wider net for players.
     
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  14. gogorath

    gogorath Member+

    None
    United States
    May 12, 2019
    I don't think economies of scale work that way. ;)

    I do think it is a bummer that Southern California is eliminated because of travel, because the weather is beyond ideal.

    I don't really get what Jersey would bring that Atlanta wouldn't. You could do machinations to make it work ... but why?

    I think the whole concept is not a great one. I think it is more about pride -- other federations have it -- and more about the people working in the Federation than really being a huge benefit. To your point, our player base is spread out; it is always going to be easier for the youth teams, etc., to send a coaching staff somewhere than have them come in.

    The only real upside is there -- if they are really fundraising the whole $250M (and I'm skeptical), then it is likely money that would not have been donated for operating costs. The savings on rent would likely be able to be reapplied to better things.

    But if you had access to that money, there's no way $250M pays out financially, and imagine how many youth scholarships you could fund with $250M?
     
  15. jaykoz3

    jaykoz3 Member+

    Dec 25, 2010
    Conshohocken, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I agree....there are many, many other ways that the USSF can use that money on. A national training center is a luxury item. Especially considering that there are 26 World/High class soccer specific training facilities located throughout the US now?
     
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  16. Step Over

    Step Over Member

    Oct 18, 2008
    Atlanta
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think their goal is to have one national training center where all their coaches and technical staff is in one location to build synergy between programs. They already have the ability to have regional ID camps and one off training camps through MLS Training Facilities, etc. Also, you'd be double spending on core infrastructure like buildings, weight rooms, offices, etc.

    Regarding your other post about building in New Jersey, besides the weather issue all costs are higher than an Atlanta or Oralndo like option. Bulding costs, land aquisition, labor, cost of living is all higher. Without any big reduction in travel times. I'd imagine you'd have to drive pretty far from the Newark airport to find affordable land. That's additional travel time on top of flights.
     
  17. theboogeyman

    theboogeyman Member+

    Jun 21, 2010
    Charlotte seems like it would be a very good option. Decent number of direct flights to Europe, pretty good weather, cheaper than the high-profile cities, and a stadium with a grass field nearby. To me, it would make much more sense than Atlanta or Cary.
     
  18. Step Over

    Step Over Member

    Oct 18, 2008
    Atlanta
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think the only advantage Charlotte has over Atlanta is the grass field stadium. But, I hope they aren't planning on playing most of the USMNT games in the location they choose because they need to spread that out accross the country to grow the game.
     
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  19. jaykoz3

    jaykoz3 Member+

    Dec 25, 2010
    Conshohocken, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Ummmm....Bank of America Stadium, is artificial turf currently.....

    I think Florida is off limits for political reasons. The USSF would likely seek some public funding for the facility, and Florida isn't exactly friendly to those sorts of things currently. Especially to organizations that promote diversity. That said, IMO Jacksonville might be a better area to consider in Florida for this type of facility. Seeing as Orlando City already has an expansive complex near Orlando.

    Although I can also see the USSF's desire to build its own facility in order to cut even more ties to MLS. At least perception wise.

    IMO that's a lot of money to spend upfront, not to mention the costs to actually run and maintain said facility considering it'll really only get used by players for approximately 2 months in a given year.
     
  20. Step Over

    Step Over Member

    Oct 18, 2008
    Atlanta
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Definitly a ligitimate point on whether this is the best use of $250M. I would actually use that money towards improving the level of coaching training. Make that more affordable and hopefully better coaches become available to lower income kids.
     
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  21. theboogeyman

    theboogeyman Member+

    Jun 21, 2010
    Did not know that about BoA. That sucks.

    and if they’re seeking public funding, then screw them. No city or state should be giving tax breaks or the like for a project such as this. It’s not even a stadium, so the effects on the economy are not likely to be that great.
     
  22. jaykoz3

    jaykoz3 Member+

    Dec 25, 2010
    Conshohocken, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I don't know if they are seeking public funding, but the USSF isn't exactly flush with cash. They certainly don't have $250M lying around in cash reserves. They are a non-profit after all.....
     
  23. xbhaskarx

    xbhaskarx Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Feb 13, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #98 xbhaskarx, Feb 7, 2023
    Last edited: Feb 7, 2023
    Not from Atlanta, not biased, I think Atlanta makes the most sense. Maybe Florida (Orlando / Miami) or North Carolina (Charlotte / triangle) after that...

    How many meaningful USMNT/USWNT games are usually played in January or early February?
     
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  24. Step Over

    Step Over Member

    Oct 18, 2008
    Atlanta
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I wonder if some of this funding is related to some type of budgetary accounting. With all the tournaments coming up and the incoming cash they may have to use that for capital projects instead of operational like coaching etc. As a non-profit there is some preference to spend income on captital projects (not an accountant so not sure why that is exactly).

    I think some of that is you can allocate that money towards "one time projects" and not reoccuring costs which you won't have money for the following year. Although there is the reoccuring operating costs of running a facility like this.
     
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  25. gogorath

    gogorath Member+

    None
    United States
    May 12, 2019
    USSF actually is/was flush with cash.

    As of March 31, 2021 (Really, USSF? That's the last one on your website?) they had over $100M really in some kind of cash or investment, even net of liabilties and what one might expect in operating cash flows.

    Most of this was surplus from Copa America 2016, where USSF basically got all the profits. I don't know if the upside will be as high in 2024.

    They have been tagging this money for a long time for a training center. It drives me a bit nuts, because while it is an expense, you could do a lot of good in youth soccer or coaching development, etc. with that money.

    I think it is largely a vanity project with minimal benefit compared to a cheap/free youth training program, investment in underdeveloped areas / demographics or simply doing youth scholarships.

    Even as an endowment, where you didn't touch the capital, it could fund anywhere from 1,000 - 4,000 low income scholarships a year for club play.

    They don't have the operating cash flows to generate this kind of surplus without events like this, so it is possibly a one time deal. Though maybe the new Copa America becomes a thing and it becomes a smaller but sustainable surplus.

    If they are fundraising 100% of the cash, I can see it. Get some government funds, get a local team there for joint use and add some funds, and then get a couple of whales. Great. But using this surplus for that seems to be something based on pride and personal comfort more than finding a way to try and fix the income disparity in our youth ranks or the coaching gap.
     
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