Boston Legacy FC, the city’s new professional women’s soccer team, said Monday that it plans to have its 30,000 square-foot performance center and outdoor fields in Brockton completed by the end of this year. And the team is hoping it will give them a competitive edge once it’s up and running.
“This performance center reflects our commitment to creating an elite environment for our athletes and investing in the resources they need to compete at the highest level and reach their full potential,” said Jennifer Epstein, controlling owner of Boston Legacy FC, in a statement. “We believe facilities like this are essential to attracting top talent and continuing to raise the standard for women’s professional sports.”
The facility, which will sit off of Howard Street on the north side of Brockton, will include the performance center building and multiple fields. There will also be a bubble dome for year-round training.
On a tour of the site Monday, Matt Balk, the team’s head of facilities, said that in the center’s first phase there will be a full-sized natural grass field along with a shorter grass field where the team will be able to practice corner kicks, free kicks and other set pieces. The dome will house a regulation, FIFA-sized artificial turf field.
Balk said the grass fields and building are set to be done later this year. The bubble with the turf field is set to be completed in January.
The center’s building will include a locker room, weight room and medical facilities, along with a full-service kitchen and players’ lounge. It will also include offices, storage and a community room for hosting.
Part of the appeal of building the center is that there are few such facilities in the country that are specifically for a professional women’s franchise. Balk said the Brockton site will be near the cutting edge of training facilities for women’s sports.
“We’re really excited to see the growth that is out there,” he said. “Not only what we’re helping to contribute to, but what both us and the WNBA are putting out there.”
Dan Jones, the Legacy FC’s director of high performance, said the center is a major step forward in the team’s commitment to building an elite environment for its athletes.
“We’re excited about the impact this will have on our athletes and the standard we can continue to raise across the game,” Jones said in a statement.
Balk said that they are planning on adding more assets after the completion of phase one of the center. The first phase of their plan uses 15 of the total 24 acres the facility sits on.
The team has not specified what all will be included in the project’s second phase, but additional fields are likely.
And going forward, one of the biggest advantages of the site will be giving the team its own abode since it doesn’t have a practice pitch to call its own just yet. They’re currently practicing out of the New England Revolution’s facility.
And the Legacy are splitting time playing home matches at Gillette Stadium and Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket this season. The plan is to move into a renovated White Stadium for home games next season.
“I think there’s kind of a transient sense to their training,” Balk said. “And so being able to provide a permanent home is so important.”
