D.C. United have broken ground on a new training facility in Leesburg, Va. Thursday that promises to be the epicenter of soccer in the DMV.
The facility is located on a 30-acre complex that will include a 40,000 square foot training center, four full-size outdoor practice fields and an elite training center equipped with a weight room and recovery facilities for the club’s performance and medical staff. It will house the D.C. United first team, the club's USL Championship affiliate Loudoun United and youth academy, as well as the Washington Spirit of the NWSL.
The facility is in close proximity to Segra Field, the 5,000-seat stadium which opened in August 2019 where Loudoun United FC, along with the Spirit and Old Glory Rugby DC (the area’s Major League Rugby club) play their home matches.
The Audi Performance Center, located inside the training facility, will have educational resources and tutorial resources available for academy players, as well as a video room the club can utilize to review film from training sessions and previous matches
“The substantial investment in soccer infrastructure that we have made the last few years – building Audi Field, forming Loudoun United FC, increasing funding to our academy, and now developing a new state-of-the-art training facility – demonstrates our commitment to contributing to the powerful growth of our sport in the DMV,” D.C. United CEO and co-chairman Jason Levien said in a statement. “We live in a hotbed for soccer talent, and this new performance center located in the heart of Loudoun County will allow us to harness the growth opportunity in the region and serve as a national center for best-in-class performance excellence.”
The cohesion between first team, Loudon United, the academy and their 13 local affiliated clubs via the new training center and performance center will help to further strengthen D.C. United’s Pathway-to-Pro program, which was founded in September 2018.
The club estimates more than 130,000 attendees will visit the site located in Loudoun County annually, from camps and clinics, to practices, leagues, and tournaments. The facility and performance center are expected to be complete and ready to use by the end of summer.
