Union City, GA – US Professional soccer club Sporting Kansas City, the 2013 MLS Cup Champions, is expanding its Swope Soccer Village training center to include six new GreenFields artificial turf soccer fields. Construction has already begun and new fields should be ready for play in September of this year.  

Sporting Kansas City’s award winning training center was dedicated in 2007 and is located in Kansas City’s historic Swope Park (the second largest municipal park in the country). The facility is the product of a unique public-private partnership between the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department and Sporting Club, the parent organization of Sporting Kansas City. After seven years a new era is ushered in for Swope Soccer Village with the installation of six new GreenFields artificial turf soccer fields as part of a $13.44 million dollar expansion project. When the expansion is complete the complex will boast a total of nine soccer fields.

Opting for excellence and experience

Sporting KC performed an exhaustive examination of turf products before selecting the new field surfaces for Swope Park. Vice-president of Development David Ficklin of Sporting KC: “We have a unique situation at Swope Soccer Village. We expect the new fields will receive tremendous daily use from youth soccer leagues throughout the region. In addition our Youth Development Academy will train on these fields daily, and our MLS team will need to train on them as well. The combination of durability and outstanding playability for professionals is a difficult pair to match up.

We believe that GreenFields offers the best artificial soccer turf to meet these diverse needs. GreenFields’ vast experience and track record in soccer is undisputed given the highest number of FIFA certified fields installed of any supplier worldwide.  Also, working with the GreenFields team was a pleasure.”

Opting for quality

In the Midwestern states, GreenFields is represented by Midwest Sport and Turf Systems. According to Jody Factor of Midwest Sport and Turf Systems, the artificial turf systems chosen in Kansas and scheduled for installation this summer are ideal for Swope Soccer Village: “We listened carefully to what the folks at Sporting KC told us about how the fields would be used at Swope.  We also listened to all of their concerns and visions for this exciting facility. From there, the recommendation as to the best GreenFields system for Swope was easy — turf with a blend of two different types of high-quality Tencate fibers. The particular combination provides a beautiful natural look, a fantastic playing experience, and long term durability, even when subject to very intensive use.”

About GreenFields

GreenFields, a leading sports field supplier, has longstanding experience in the development, manufacture, construction, installation and maintenance of synthetic turf systems. Its ability to provide high quality product innovation and turnkey solutions is unrivalled within the sports turf industry. The GreenFields’ team works to provide both cost-effective and premium quality products whilst focusing on researching and developing new surfaces for the international sports industry. Through our internal testing facility we develop products that match the requirements of the sport’s governing bodies around the world.

With a tradition of commitment to the design and development of sustainable synthetic turf systems, GreenFields has developed the real next generation of sports turf – GreenFields MX®. This 3D woven turf is the perfect surface in terms of ball behavior, playability, consistency in all directions and biomechanical player interaction.

About Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC is owned by a group of local Kansas City business and community leaders comprised of Neal Patterson, Cliff Illig, Pat Curran, Greg Maday and Robb Heineman. The club prides itself on its commitment and vision to provide high-performance entertainment and consumer experiences. Sporting Club purchased the team from the Hunt Sports Group in 2006, and under their direction have opened a world-class training center at Swope Park and state-of-the-art Sporting Park in KansasCity, Kan., while investing in the Sporting KC Academy for developing local youth into homegrown talent. Sporting KC was crowned MLS Cup champions in 2013, claiming a second league title in the team’s 18-year history as a charter member of Major League Soccer. The team is also a two-time winner of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and will represent Major League Soccer in the CONCACAF Champions League in 2014