Orlando City SC have announced a new training facility at Osceola Heritage Park, to be completed by July 2019.
It had previously been the spring training complex for Major League Baseball's Houston Astros. It will now be exclusive to OCSC and the Orlando Pride.
"The training complex is the heart of our soccer operations. It’s where our product on the field reports to work every day, where they eat and recover, and most importantly, where they build the team culture and attitude that carries over to the stadium on match days,” Orlando City SC CEO Alex Leitão said in a media release. “We’ve worked hard to secure the best opportunity to support both player development and the recruitment of top talent over the past four seasons with the establishment of a top-notch soccer stadium in 2017 and now the addition of a new state-of-the-art training complex in 2019.”
In the land's 20 acres, there will be four full-size grass fields, a fitness, training and recovery center, a film review room, players' lounge and dining area. The locker rooms for both OCSC and the Pride will be near replicas of the locker room at Orlando City Stadium. There will also be 30,000 square feet of office space for staff and media.
“There are only a few top-flight professional sports teams in the area, so for two of them -- Orlando City and Orlando Pride -- to build an exclusive training facility in Osceola County to use for years to come is very significant,” Chairman of the Osceola County Board of County Commissioners Fred Hawkins, Jr. said. “The duration and strength of their commitment speaks to Orlando City SC’s belief in Osceola County and the relationship we’ve built since they began their professional soccer journey.”
