HILLSBORO, Ore. (AP) — Near the foyer of the new joint training facility for the WNBA's Portland Fire and the NWSL's Portland Thorns is an expansive set of lighted shelves enclosed by glass.
It's the trophy case, “soon to be filled,” said Lisa Bhathal Merage, who owns both teams with her brother Alex Bhathal.
The $150 million performance center is the first purpose-built for a pair of professional women’s teams in different sports. The official ribbon-cutting
is Saturday, but the teams got a look at the luxe facility earlier in the week.
The 12-acre campus includes two full-sized outdoor soccer fields and a 17,000-square-foot gymnasium that houses a pair of basketball courts, along with a weight room, locker rooms for both teams and conference rooms.
But the details make the facility unique. There are two nursing and changing rooms for players who are parents, and even a nursery fully stocked with toys and stuffed animals.
A meditation and massage area is dimly lit, with a ceiling painted to look like the forest. There's a Pilates and yoga studio. There's even an underwater treadmill for recovery.
A pair of paintings hung in the entry way are by a local artist, and Bhathal Merage said the plan is to rotate pieces as a showcase for local artisans.
“I was there Monday morning early when the players came in for the first time, and cut the ribbon on the locker room and just felt this beautiful space that had been created for them, and it’s great,” Fire President Clare Hamill said Friday.
The Fire and the Thorns are owned and operated by Raj Sports, led by Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal. They repurposed a former Nike office complex for the facility.
During a tour of the building, Bhathal Merage said the idea was to create a spa-like atmosphere. Thorns players Sophia Wilson and Morgan Weaver helped pick out some of the finishes.
“I texted Sophia, and I was like, ‘Hey, what kind of chair do you have for nursing?' And she told me, and I was like, ’Okay, we’re just gonna get that one,'” Bhathal Merage said. Wilson, who also plays for the U.S. national team, is the mom to daughter Gigi, born last year.
The opening of the Kaiser Permanente Performance Center was part of a celebration dubbed the Epicenter of Women's Sports, presented by Raj Sports and Nike.
As part of “Epicenter Week,” Nike hosted a Women’s Global Sport Summit. Among the speakers at the company's Beaverton headquarters were former U.S. national team player Tobin Heath, South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley and NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman.
The Thorns previously trained at their home stadium, downtown Portland’s Providence Park. The expansion Fire practiced at Portland State University.
“We had an opportunity to think beyond what exists today and build for where professional sports is going," Alex Bhathal said, "creating an enduring home for our athletes, teams and the Portland community that we believe can serve as a blueprint for the next generation of performance facilities.”
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