Grande Sports World

Grande Sports World is a recently completed 40-acre, $20 million athletic training and physical rehabilitation complex adjacent to the Francisco Grande Hotel & Golf Resort located in Casa Grande, Arizona, approximately 45 minutes from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The hotel and golf course was originally developed as the Spring Training headquarters for the San Francisco Giants.

Facilities

The GSW complex includes a training and conditioning building, which exceeds the quality found in most professional sports training facilities. The sports performance building has four professional locker rooms with 70 lockers each; physical therapy and rehabilitation areas; 16 meeting rooms/classrooms with each accommodating up to 30 people; and a training and conditioning area with state-of-the-art equipment, and two physical therapy pools. In addition, eight soccer, lacrosse and football fields are available with professional lighting on six of the eight fields.

GSW is unique in that it is a multi-sport team training facility that offers athletes the opportunity to have their hotel, all of their meals, the fields, and their training and conditioning located in an attractive campus environment in one convenient location.

Soccer Coaching Staff

Greg Vanney is the Director of Soccer Operations. Greg competed as a former MLS defensive standout , French first division player and member of the U.S. National team for 10 years . Greg has assembled a soccer staff of former professional Major League Soccer players and U.S. Soccer Men's National Team, including former teammate on the Los Angeles Galaxy, Mike Munoz (soccer). Munoz played collegiate soccer at University of California, Berkeley where he was a PAC-10 standout and former first team All PAC-10 in 2002 and 2003. Munoz also was a member of the Under-20 U.S. Men's National Team. In 2005, Michael was drafted by Club Deportivo Chivas USA in the Major League Soccer Draft and finished his playing career with the Los Angeles Galaxy. Munoz also helped coach in the LA Galaxy youth development program before joining the Grande Sports World and RSL-AZ staff.

U.S. Soccer Development Academy - Real Salt Lake-AZ

The U.S. Soccer Federation recently approved GSW as a U.S. Soccer Development Academy affiliated with Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer (MLS) for Under-16 and Under-18 boys in Arizona. Ten members of the academy have previously played for one of the U.S. National teams . This is the first and only soccer residency program in America associated with an MLS team . The academy teams are coached and trained by the GSW Soccer Staff to compete at the highest level in the United States and to eventually play at the collegiate, professional and international level.

Hotel

The 105-room resort has Undergone a recent $10 million renovation and has indoor and outdoor dining facilities, a ballroom that can accommodate up to 400 people, and numerous meeting rooms, a swimming pool and considerable space on the hotel grounds for outdoor activities.

Golf Course

The 18-hole PGA championship golf course is one of the longest in Arizona, and is playable between 6,500 and 7,545 yards, depending on the tees that are chosen. Built in 1961, the course is a traditional park-like course with approximately 1,500 trees and is GeneRally flat but has some rolling terrain, with wide fairways.