'This is a starting point': U.S. Soccer's new home...
Key takeaways
- Situated on a 200-acre site south of Atlanta, the Arthur M.
- "It is best in the world, in my opinion," then-sporting director Matt Crocker told ESPN earlier this year, before departing the federation in April.
- Before the opening of the NTC, U.S.
Why this matters: a sports story that could shift standings, legacies, or fan conversations.
Soccer has a new home. Situated on a 200-acre site south of Atlanta, the Arthur M. Blank National Training Center officially opened its doors in early May, marking a new chapter for the country's soccer federation.
Currently hosting the U.S. men's national team as it prepares for this summer's FIFA World Cup, the NTC boasts 17 outdoor playing surfaces, 20 locker rooms, 19 meeting rooms, two indoor courts, a 10,000-square-foot gym, and more, in a space that has more than 400,000 square feet of facilities and hundreds of staff, all of it tailored to players' every need.
"It is best in the world, in my opinion," then-sporting director Matt Crocker told ESPN earlier this year, before departing the federation in April. "It's going to be pretty incredible from our national teams' perspectives, but obviously also coach education, refereeing, community usage; we want it to be the home of soccer in America."