New indoor soccer training facility to open in Portland
43 Northport Drive win Portland, a former call center space being turned into an indoor soccer facility Wednesday. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)
Two local youth club soccer coaches are teaming up to turn a former call center on outer Washington Avenue in Portland into an indoor training facility.
Joseph Fourré, who coaches for Seacoast United and New England Futbol Club; and Paul Baber, business development director for New England Futbol Club, plan to open The Training Ground this fall.
The 27,000-square foot space will include two side fields — meant to accommodate six-on-six play — and four smaller, glassed-in fields. It joins a growing number of indoor spaces geared to providing young players a year-round experience, although most of them are clustered in southern Maine. In Central Maine and the Midcoast, there are fewer facilities and they are more spread out. Northern Maine doesn’t have any major indoor turf spaces.
Despite the other complexes in greater Portland, Fourré said the growth of youth sports in recent years has created demand that outweighs availability.
“We are super excited to fill that need,” he said.
Fourré played soccer at Cheverus High School before playing collegiately at Michigan State University and remains involved with the sport both through his own children and coaching at the high school and club level. He said his club teams are already scheduled to use the facility for winter training.
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Baber also has extensive experience in both sports development and soccer clubs.
The 43 Northport Drive location, off Washington Avenue near the Northgate shopping plaza, was most recently used as a call center. Fourré said the space will need some renovations, including knocking down existing columns, but he thinks it will work well.
Youth Sports has blossomed into a $40 billion domestic industry, according to reporting by the New York Times last year. With that growth comes increasing questions of access and equity. Cost is a prohibiting factor for many kids.
Club teams are often much more expensive than town or school programs and can provide a competitive edge. They also have access to more year-round training with indoor facilities. Travel costs are another major factor, particular for youth in central and northern areas.
Fourré and Baber have not set rental prices yet for The Training Ground.
Although he acknowledged the increased pressure for young athletes to specialize in one sport, Fourré said, “We still like multisport athletes.”
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Charley DiAdamo, from North Andover, Massachusetts, is a rising senior at Colby College. She writes a food and humor column for The Colby Echo and is a freelance contributor to The Maine Monitor. She is. More by Charley DiAdamo
