Design & Technology

Building an inclusive home for U.S. Soccer

How do you design a high-performance training facility for 27 unique teams? U.S. Soccer started with accessibility.

Earlier this year, U.S. Soccer moved into a new home. The Arthur M. Blank National Training Center sits on over 200 acres of manicured sod just south of Atlanta, GA. The facility stretches 200,000 square feet and serves as the primary training hub for the 27 National Teams that make up the modern U.S. Soccer federation.

The center boasts 13 regulation-sized natural grass fields, training and recovery rooms, analytics and research spaces, and a footwear testing lab built in collaboration with Nike. But the most innovative aspect of this sparkling new monument to American soccer may be its accessibility features.

In addition to the high-profile Men’s and Women’s senior teams, U.S. Soccer also supports 25 other elite, national-level programs including Power Soccer, Beach Soccer, and Futsal. These teams train and compete on different surfaces and often have very different performance needs than typical soccer players. So, it was critical to include their voices in the planning process.

“U.S. Soccer is a soccer ecosystem, and it’s important to consider that."
Andrew Jacobs — Design Director, Gensler

Players worked with engineers at Gensler, a global architecture and design firm, from the very start of the project. Some of the most impactful feedback came from athletes with disabilities. Power Soccer players suggested building an elevated viewing platform, similar to a design they had seen at the 2023 World Cup in Australia. At that event, many athletes got to watch games from a vantage point above court-level for the first time in their careers.

They all recognized how a simple design choice could give the team and its coaching staff an entirely new perspective on the sport.

So, the architects designed a raised spectator area to go along with the world’s first locker room built specifically for Power Soccer players. Hallways are wide and doors open with the swipe of a hand. The facility even includes a dedicated Charging Room, where the athletes’ powerchairs go to plug-in and recharge overnight. This all seems somewhat surreal for players who are more accustomed to hunting for power outlets in hotel lobbies and high school gymnasiums, praying not to blow a fuse.

The National Training Center officially opened its doors on May 7, 2026. The first event hosted on campus was the Adapt and Thrive Invitational — U.S. Soccer’s flagship disability initiative and one of the sport's strongest symbols of an inclusive and welcoming future. The players felt right at home.