NYCFYC break in heir new practice pitch
New York City FC finally has found a home — for its first team’s training facility.
The club unveiled the Etihad City Football Academy with a ribboncutting ceremony Tuesday morning in Orangeburg, making it NYCFC’s permanent home to prepare for 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 past 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 first team, but it’ll also include the backroom staff and academy coaches, putting everyone at NYCFC under one roof in Rockland County.
The facility includes 1½ grass fields that can be used year-round due to undersoil heating and arranged in numerous ways depending on the day’s focus, with four state-of-the-art cameras recording each session for review after.
Away from the field, the training center also caters to the players’ needs such as an onsite chef preparing specialty meals daily in an open cafeteria, massage and treatment rooms, a multi-purpose gym along with 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.”