KANSAS CITY, KS—The Sporting Club and the U.S. Soccer Federation have agreed to explore the creation of a $50 million National Training and Coaching Development Center here in the city.
The club, the owner of the Major League Soccer team Sporting Kansas City, has issued a request for proposals to Wyandotte County land owners and real estate brokers to identify the best available location for the proposed center. The campus would be designed, developed and operated as a world-class training facility dedicated to the future of American soccer, according to the club, which said the center could host U.S. National Team camps, coaching education and referee development programming. U.S. Soccer will also explore the feasibility of establishing futsal and/or small-sided soccer programming to be managed out of the center.
Robb Heineman - Sporting Club CEO, said that the center would bring tens of thousands of hotel room stays by players, coaches and fans. His team’s new $180 million Sporting Park stadium was completed in 2011. “This project has both immediate, ongoing economic benefits and the potential for an incredible long-term benefit,” he said in a statement. “The development center would place Kansas City at the center of soccer conversation, both nationally and worldwide.”