Columbus' National Women's Soccer franchise is breaking ground on what those building it claim will be "the best training facility in the world."
NWSL team and Columbus Crew owners Haslam Sports Group released new, detailed renderings of the two-story, 45,000-square-foot center ahead of its Oct. 27 groundbreaking at McCoy Park. The "OhioHealth Training Grounds," is named for NWSL's new official health care partner. The Ohio healthcare provider is also the named sponsor at the Columbus Crew MLS training facility.
The estimated completion date is by January 2028, before Columbus' women's soccer team debuts in spring 2028 and just ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Female team, female-centered care
Whoever makes it on Columbus' inaugural NWSL team can look forward to
training on three grass pitches and using "top-line" exercise equipment, as well as multiple locker rooms and pools, a sauna and other wellness and rehabilitation spaces designed with the needs Columbus' elite female athletes in mind.
"We are building this for the women from the ground up," Mary Shepro, president of business operations for the NWSL team and the Crew, told The Dispatch. Beyond the locker rooms and fields, the facility is designed to keep as many health services under one roof as possible, including recovery, preventative care, strength training, massage and more between-match maintenance.
Historically, women's teams have worked out of a men's facility or a college facility, and such services have been spread out across whatever city they live in, Shepro said.
"Now, to be able to bring that within our ecosystem gives the players and us a lot more control and insight to make sure it's a high level of care," she noted.
Part of that control and insight is curating care to not just soccer players, but women playing soccer. The franchise is leaning on OhioHealth to help create a team that can address the unique needs of female athletes, such as menstrual cycles, pregnancy, postpartum recovery and injuries that women get more commonly than men such as an ACL tear.
While Shepro said there is always a hope that the care team is made up of women they can elevate in the soccer world, ultimately, they want "the best in the world" to take care of Columbus' womens teams.
Looking to the future
The training facility is, of course, about setting up the new NWSL team for success. It's already a key factor in ongoing player recruitment, said Tim Bezbatchenko, president of global soccer at Haslam Sports Group.
"It's going to separate us from the rest of the competition in NWSL," he told The Dispatch.
But the Haslam Sports Group hasn't been shy about its desire to thrust Columbus further onto the world's soccer stage and what role the training facility has to play. Columbus is set to host nine Olympic soccer matches come 2028, and is currently bidding to be a host city for the 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup in a joint-proposal with Cleveland.
Bezbatchenko said he thinks that "everyone's going to look at this facility and what we're doing in Columbus as a model, and they will want to come play a match here."
Shepro noted that isn't just great for sports fan. Staking Columbus' claim on the international soccer map and drawing in teams, fans and franchises from all over is an economic benefit to the city.
However, the facility hasn't been without controversy. The Haslam Sports Group, run by billionaires Dee and Jimmy Haslam, secured $50 million in taxpayer dollars for the project in a public-private deal with Franklin County and the City of Columbus.
McCoy Park is located in one of the city's most disadvantaged neighborhoods, whose residentswere promised extensive renovations to the community park beginning this year. Following backlashof the deal, reached without public input, Mayor Andrew Ginther announced the city would build the neighborhood a new park.
City officials and other Dispatch sources have said that the ownership group, which includes Haslam Sports Group, Nationwide Insurance and Dr. Pete Edwards will invest more than $300 million to set up the franchise.
Business and consumer issues reporter Samantha Hendrickson can be reached at shendrickson@dispatch.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Best in the world? See what Columbus has in store for new NWSL team
