David Tepper unveils historic Charlotte FC practice facility: ‘It’s a dream’
David Tepper called it “a dream.”
“It’s a dream that was,” the Charlotte FC owner told a crowd on Tuesday. “It’s a dream that is.”
What Tepper was referring to was the opening of the Charlotte FC training facility: the 52,000 square-foot, privately financed, state-of-the-art project that was unveiled to the public on Tuesday evening. He discussed this “dream” site — which is officially called Atrium Health Performance Park — while standing on it, surveying all the potential the place brims with.
“We’re excited,” continued Tepper, who is also the owner of the Carolina Panthers. “It’s the first facility in MLS with the business side, the first team (Charlotte FC), the second team (MLS NEXT Pro team Crown Legacy FC), and the academy — in one facility.”
The public first caught wind of this project in August 2022, when Charlotte FC reached an agreement with Levine Properties to house the new training facility at 8600 McAlpine Park Drive in east Charlotte. The club has practiced at McAlpine Park since its inaugural season in 2022, and it opted to complete a full remodeling of the park’s existing structure to expedite the facility’s opening — as opposed to starting from scratch and potentially taking longer at the old Eastland Mall site, the place where Tepper Sports and Entertainment originally committed to building Charlotte FC’s headquarters.
Charlotte FC players and staff started moving into the facility in August of this year.
“Having the facility here,” Charlotte FC president Joe LaBue said, “it allows us to be the world class club that we want to be.”
A sneak peek at Charlotte FC practice facility
Tepper Sports and Entertainment stakeholders, city officials, media and others were taken on a tour through the facility Tuesday evening. (This didn’t include a tour of the six full soccer pitches and two half pitches the site encompasses.)
Among the most stunning stops on the tour:
▪ The first team locker room, fit with a stylist area and a barber’s chair where players can get their own haircuts.
▪ The “Hydro” room, stocked with a hot tub, a cold tub and an above ground underwater treadmill.
▪ Treatment/therapy room, with office spaces for the team dietitian and physicians and trainers.
▪ Team auditorium.
▪ The weight training space, a designation that thoroughly undersells all that’s in the 2,800 square feet. Some of its features include an altitude room, a DARI Motion capture camera system (premier musculoskeletal analysis to prevent injury and drive performance), a recovery room and a whole bunch of weights outfitted and designed by PLAE.
Oh — and an epic, Charlotte FC themed mural, complete with player avatars in the form CLTFC blue gladiators, all of whom are yelling and storming into battle.
“I think we all three take a lot of pride in having — even if it’s a tiny fraction — something to do with how the guys perform in the space,” said muralist Matt Moore, who worked on the special project with artists Chris Nichol and Elliana Esquivel. “I think that’s a cool thing for us.
“You know, when you’re making art, the goal is to always spark something out of somebody. So to have that opportunity to spark something — ferocity, aggression, whatever — it’s a pretty cool opportunity.”
Charlotte FC, David Tepper giving back to community
This training facility, as Tepper explained Tuesday, will also be an asset to its surrounding community. It’ll mirror the club in this way. Charlotte FC, since its inception, has been a club that has not only furnished a loyal fandom but has provided a place for Charlotte residents — from all walks of life, from all parts of the world — to call home.
“It’s in a neighborhood,” Tepper said. “And what we hope to do is bring that neighborhood in here, not keep that neighborhood out. That’s why that community field is up there. That’s why lights are up there. And why you have the big, other fields across the way there. You can bring a lot of people down here.”
Added LaBue: “We don’t have the exact programming designed fully yet. But we anticipate utilizing (the fields) for camps and clinics. Adult leagues. You dream it, bring it to us.”
This story was originally published October 11, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
