Eight full-size pitches. A custom-designed facility with fully equipped gyms for all the teams. A dining hall with professional chefs and dedicated nutrition spaces. Academic spaces for its young players. A comprehensive medical suite for wellness and rehab. And an innovation lab that will give the players access to elite preparation.
Julian De Guzman, the head of sport for the New York Red Bulls, couldn’t say enough about the RWJBarnabas Health Training Red Bulls Performance Center the club opened this morning in Morris Township, how it already is the envy of the professional soccer world.
“This incredible venue is where the next generation of Red Bull players will be built and where our future starts,” he told a crowd of hundreds who came from all over the world for the ribbon cutting.
De Guzman talked about what the facility represents to the entirety of the organization, from the first team to the academy, from the scouts to the hundreds of team members.
“This is a statement,” he said. “We are serious about building something that lasts.”
Therein was the theme of the day.
As much as the facility will help this year’s club, it’s really about developing the stars of the future, creating a winning culture of development that is unlike any other.
General manager Marc de Grandpré explained how bringing the entire organization under one roof is the differentiator — and why the club had spent more than a decade finding the right place and right space to do so.
“This unifies everything,” he said. “The kids in the academy are going to be able to see their idols train in front of them. They’re going to eat in the same kitchen. Play on the same pitches. And that is intentional.
“We wanted to make sure everything was integrated so a young kid would understand what it takes to become a professional.”
They do all of that under one roof now, thanks in part to the partnership with RWJBarnabas Health, which is providing medical services as well as a sponsorship that helped build the facility.
CEO Mark Manigan said it was an easy call.
“We unite around a common mission around youth athletics, health, healthy living and healthy lifestyles,” he said. “That’s just core to our mission.”
De Grandpré noted the medical services RWJBH supplies are an important part of the culture the club is building.
“It used to be to be that when players were rehabbing, they felt separated from the club,” he said. “Now, you’re going to be with the team in this facility.”
The features of the facility will help the club win competition for players and coaches, too.
“Facilities have become an arms race between college facilities and professional facilities,” he said. “For us, it was really making sure we thought about the athlete at every turn.
“Everything is designed so the athlete has a better experience, from the pitches to the kitchen to the wellness facilities to the rehab facilities. It’s about how do we help them become the best versions of themselves.”
Tab Ramos, one of the most famous American soccer players and a member of the original Red Bulls team in 1995 — back when it was called the MetroStars — has played and coached at all levels around the world.
He was blown away by the facility.
“If I had the opportunity to dream back then what the club would be like 30 years down the road, I would have never come close to this,” he said.
“This is the most important part of a club. At the end of the day, the stadiums are all going to be the same. Where you work every day is where you get better.”
That notion was seconded by one of the finest units in global soccer: the Brazilian national team.
It will use the facility as a training site during the World Cup.
“To us, that was a stamp of affirmation, that we did it right,” de Grandpré said. “When one of the best teams in the world wants to train here, preparing to hopefully win a World Cup. That’s a statement.”
It certainly certified what De Guzman told the crowd.
“This is not just a training ground,” he said. “This is the most innovative soccer training facility in all of North America. And guess what: It’s ours.”
