Thursday marked the groundbreaking of the Wyandotte Youth Soccer Complex, a 12-field facility that will comprise the youth component of the National Training and Coaching Development Center in Kansas City, Kansas.
Sporting Club and the Unified Government of Wyandotte County announced the development of the $75 million soccer village in July 2014. The Center will feature a professional side and a youth side, with the later now beginning construction east of Schlitterbahn Water Park between Parallel Parkway and State Avenue.
The Wyandotte Youth Soccer Complex will host a variety of the nation’s premier youth soccer tournaments upon its completion. The venue will feature synthetic and natural grass playing surfaces and select fields will be fully lighted.
Set to break ground in late spring at the southeast corner of Parallel Parkway and 98th Street, the professional side of the National Training and Coaching Development Center is planned to house seven lighted, full-size fields and a state-of-the-art performance analytics facility. The site will also be home to U.S. Soccer’s National Coaching Education Center and the Children’s Mercy Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Center, which will offer a full range of sports medicine services, resources and programming for youth athletes.
Projected to open in fall 2017, the National Training and Coaching Development Center will provide a world-class environment to develop players, coaches, and referees of all ages. The Center is anticipated to attract club and international teams at the youth and senior levels, bringing opportunities for Children’s Mercy Park to host premier soccer competitions each year.
The National Training and Coaching Development Center is the latest venture in a long-term partnership between Sporting Club and the Unified Government of Wyandotte County. State-of-the-art Children’s Mercy Park opened in 2011 and has hosted several high-profile soccer matches at the club, college and international levels. In an initiative targeted to foster local youth, four Wyandotte County futsal court locations opened last October and another four are slated to open this spring.
