I attended the Atlanta United Opening Training event on Thursday evening, February 15, 2018. It was…read moremy first chance to check out the team's new training facility, officially known as the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground. Construction began in February 2016 and the training facility opened on April 11, 2017.
I've worked off of Franklin Gateway (formerly Franklin Road) since 2001. In recent years, I've watched Franklin Gateway transform, mainly with the demolition of several old apartment complexes (that's where the land for this training facility came from). With this $60 million training facility and the new $11 million Franklin Gateway Sports Complex now open and metro Atlanta's second IKEA store and a three-story driving range and sports entertainment center on the way, Franklin Gateway is really changing.
Unfortunately, the training ground isn't open to the public. The only way that I and a couple thousand other folks got to see it is because of the special Atlanta United Opening Training event. Tickets to this event were made available only to Atlanta United season ticket holders and I was able to snag a couple tickets from a season-ticket-holding friend who wasn't able to go.
Since parking is limited at the facility, we were instructed to park at Six Flags White Water, about 2.5 miles north, and shuttle to the event. Even Lyft and Uber drivers were directed to Six Flags White Water. This worked out pretty seamlessly. Security checks and ticket scanning took place at Six Flags White Water and not at the training ground itself.
I was looking forward to checking out both the inside and outside of the facility, but we were only allowed to check out certain sections of the outside. There are six full-sized soccer fields at the training ground. I pass them every weekday morning on my way into work. On all of my commutes into work as well as occasionally passing by on my way back in to work from my lunch breaks and leaving work, I've never seen anyone out on the fields except for one time (and it was just one person).
The open training took place on the training ground's one "show pitch" (exhibition playing field), which is not visible from the road. The show pitch has a 2,500-seat stand - sort of like high school bleachers, but nicer - on one side of the field. The owner, Arthur Blank (who was present and spoke to us at the event), staff, VIPs, and special guests got to watch the event from a fancy glass building that overlooked the pitch. Sports talk radio station 92.9 The Game was on-site broadcasting, there was a DJ, several food trucks, and a pop-up team store/trailer. The grounds were clean and the buildings looked new, modern, and state-of-the-art. Walking around, enjoying the sights and sounds, it was hard to believe I was on Franklin Gateway (I still have the urge to call it Road).
There was an MC, we watched videos on a video board (for a new facility for a Major League Soccer team, the video board was mindboggingly small), and at least one of the players addressed the crowd. As for the open training itself, props and training tools were set up on the field and we watched as the coaches ran the players through various drills (in Spanish). Players who weren't doing drills gingerly jogged around the perimeter of the field. Once that was over, the team scrimmaged.
What I liked most about the event was how close we were to the players and coaches. The training ground is an intimate venue. As the players practiced and jogged, they also interacted with us.
Along with being the home for the Atlanta United first team and club staff, the training ground is also home for the club's youth academy teams (U-19 through U-12).