USWNT head coach Emma Hayes has a lot on her plate this year - a pair of friendlies against world No. 1 Spain, and a build-up to the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup next summer. Helping her manage all of it is a brand new toy: U.S. Soccer's freshly opened National Training Center in Fayette County, Georgia, just south of Atlanta.
The facility, which took two years to build and opened in May 2026 ahead of that summer's men's World Cup, serves as the shared home base for both the men's and women's national teams. It carries a price tag of roughly $250 million, with $50 million of that coming from a charitable donation by Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United owner Arthur Blank. Chick-fil-A chairman Dan T. Cathy also donated land for the project.
The numbers behind the site are eye-catching: 17 outdoor fields in total, including 13 natural grass and two artificial turf pitches, plus two sand pitches built specifically for beach soccer work. Indoors, there's 400,000 square feet of space covering offices, meeting rooms and additional pitches, along with a 10,000 square foot gym built in partnership with Nike, complete with locker rooms, a dining hub and multiple weight-training areas.
Hayes loves the layout
The USWNT trained at the new center ahead of their first match against Spain, set for Saturday, October 10 at Audi Field in Washington, DC. For Hayes, the standout feature isn't the gym or the sand pitches - it's the way the multiple fields let her and her staff keep an eye on more than one group of players at once.
"This is what we wanted from day one - a situation where we've got two elite groups, side by side, all competing to be on the senior squad," Hayes said. "I'm going to have to keep educating the entire country about the importance of development, and that includes the players, because skipping steps are simply not an option. Proof of that is Evelyn Shores, Kate Del Fava, players who have been in that and are progressing into that."
She added: "Being able to coach a session, then walk across and watch that session... this is exactly what I want. I'm very excited for the day because I'm in football heaven."
Heaps sold on the pitches
Captain Lindsey Heaps was just as impressed, though her focus was squarely on the playing surfaces themselves.
"The fields are what I'm probably the most excited about," Heaps said. "I feel like you can't put a pass wrong on these. U.S. Soccer is just making a big push to make things incredible for us. I appreciate everything they did to put this together, and we're just excited to be here for the first time."
