NYCFC getting a real kick from new training facility
New York City FC finally has a home — for a training facility it can truly call its own.
In a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday, the Major League Soccer club unveiled the Etihad City Football Academy in the Rockland County hamlet of Orangeburg — giving NYCFC a permanent facility in which to prepare for its matches at Yankee Stadium.
“It’s like the facilities we have in Europe,” head coach Patrick Vieira said. “It’s all about having what you need to improve yourself and work well. When we were in Purchase, we knew that wasn’t our home. We weren’t allowed to do what we really wanted.”
NYCFC had spent the last three years training at SUNY-Purchase, but never quite felt at home due to obstacles that failed to link all operations together.
The new 17-acre facility will not only house the team, but also accommodate the backroom staff and academy coaches, putting everyone at NYCFC under one roof.
The facility includes 1 ½ grass fields that can be used year-round thanks to undersoil heating, and be arranged in numerous ways depending on the day’s focus. It also features four state-of-the-art cameras recording each session for coaches and players to review.
Away from the field, the new training center also features an onsite chef preparing specialty meals daily for an open cafeteria; massage and treatment rooms; and a multi-purpose gym, among other resources.
“I come here every day and I can’t believe this is where we work,” NYCFC sporting director Claudio Reyna said. “This is a home that’s built for all of us.”