LAFC confirm training ground coming to Cal State LA

Los Angeles Football Club announced on Wednesday plans for their training ground and facilities at California State University Los Angeles. The Cal State University Board of Trustees approved the plan today, paving the way for it to be built.

Already the home of LAFC’s academy program, the training facility will cost $30 million, to be paid entirely by the club. In addition, the team has donated $100,000 to Cal State LA’s athletic department already, and will donate an additional $1.5 million to the university.

The project will consist of the club renovating Cal State LA’s stadium field with grass to match that laid at Banc of California Stadium, as well as building a brand-new training facility that they are calling state of the art. The facility will be designed by Gensler, who are also designing the stadium site. The facility will include locker rooms, office space for the team and front office staff and sports medicine facilities.

“This training facility is unparalleled and uniquely Los Angeles,” said LAFC general manager and EVP of soccer operations John Thorrington in a statement. “The building itself incorporates innovative indoor-outdoor spaces and is unlike anything I’ve seen the world over. Any player will love to train at this world class facility. The central location is ideal for our Academy programming, and our ownership’s investment enables us to align our soccer operation from LAFC’s MLS team to our Academy.”

The news, widely expected as Cal State LA had been rumored to be LAFC’s training ground site for several months, ensures something else regarding the MLS expansion team’s identity, with both stadium and training ground being located in the city of Los Angeles. The distance between the sites is not too bad, either, with them being roughly 10 miles apart, with distance and driving time varying depending on route.

One point not covered in the announcement: When the training facility will be ready. Given the apparent green light on the project, here’s hoping it can be ready as soon as next year, but that will be a development to follow.

All in all, the announcement of LAFC’s training facility is a big deal. The team has a home for game days, and now they have an official home for the rest of the week, too. Things are coming together nicely for March 2018.

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