Groundbreaking for Portland Thorns, WNBA training facility draws crowd

HILLSBORO Ore. (KPTV) – Construction officially began on Tuesday for the first women-only sports training facility in the world.

The facility, which will host the Portland Thorns and future Portland WNBA team, will be located on NE Alocleck Dr. in existing office buildings previously occupied by Nike.

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Governor Tina Kotek, Senator Ron Wyden, and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici joined the leaders of RAJ Sports to speak ahead of the groundbreaking.

“This isn’t just about the two teams, it’s about establishing Oregon as the global epicenter of women’s sports,” Kotek said.

In addition to city leaders, local Hillsboro school athletes were invited to shoot hoops and kick goals on-site to celebrate the accomplishment.

Former Thorns player Karina LeBlanc now serves as the Executive Vice President of Strategic Growth and Development for the Thorns and WNBA Team. She said she couldn’t have dreamed of something like this when she was a player.

“I got to play professional sports, but so many times I played in areas that were built for men, and you sometimes had to wait,” she said. “But now this next generation, they know that it was built for them.”

Thorns forward Morgan Weaver spoke to FOX 12 previously about her frustrations with the current training setup and said Thorns owners Lisa and Alex Bhathal have made sure that this facility is a collaboration.

“Both she and Alex are asking us, what do we think, what are our opinions,” Weaver said. “We don’t have to be driving back and forth, we get one set place, and it’s also so exciting that we get to share it with the WNBA team, we get to support each other, we get to meet new players.”

The $150 million facility will eventually feature two full-sized basketball courts and another two full-sized soccer pitches, a 5,000 square foot strength training facility, a full-time chef, and rooms for players’ families, meeting rooms, and more.

“You always want to have a home, you always want to know there’s a place you can come every day,” said Jeff Agoos, the President of Thorns FC and General Manager of Soccer Operations. “I think this is really going to give them that opportunity, so the only thing they’ll have to worry about is what happens on the field.”

They hope this will set the precedent for more facilities around the country and the generations to come.

“This is us not asking for permission, this is us talking about equity and building equity here today,” LeBlanc said.

There’s no exact date yet for when the facility will open, but LeBlanc has said previously that they expect to open by the start of next year’s soccer season.

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