KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- It is by far the best facility I've ever been to or I've ever seen,” Sporting KC soccer player Graham Zusi said.
The $75 million facility known as Pinnacle is a national training and coaching development center for soccer clubs and national teams.
“It blew all expectations out of the water for me,” Zusi said. “Hearing bits and pieces of what they were going to do, I had a pretty high bar that I envisioned and my bar wasn't even close to what they did here.”
It’s a national education home for coaches and referees.
“From a coaching education, referee education and then national teams, they've never had anything like this ever,” Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes said. “So it probably comes at the past time with the failure of this world cup, it comes at a great time to have this facility.”
Taking a look inside, you’ll see the war room, the team lounge, the Sporting Kansas City locker room, U.S. National team locker room, and the 2,000 square-foot sports performance gym.
“A stadium is great and we have one of the best out there, but I think what goes untalked about a lot is the training facility,” Zusi said. “We're here on a daily basis. We go to the stadium once a week but this is what we're living in and out of, so to have something like this, it's a no-brainer when they see this, they want to be a part of it.”
There’s also a barbershop in the new facility.
“I called one of our guys and said 'Hey, do we have space for this?' and they said, 'Yeah we can make it happen,'” Vermes said.
“No stone has been left unturned, and they thought of everything,” Zusi said.
It’s also home to the Children’s Mercy Sports Medicine Center, offering sports medicine services, resources and programming for student athletes in all sports.
“So many kids that play so many different sports and have the ability to come here and use this as a rehab clinic, you know, what an unbelievable place to be a part of,” Vermes said.
Sporting Kansas City President Jake Reid said the economic impact for the area is expected to be massive, driving traffic to shops and restaurants in the Village West area.
The facility also has seven acres with three grass pitches for Sporting Kansas City and the U.S. National team.
The facility will be fully completed by March.
For more information on Pinnacle, click here.
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