Ohio will be home to a new National Women’s Soccer League team, but the team’s training facility will be built where a city park in an underserved area was previously promised various improvements. Columbus was selected late last month as the NWSL’s 18th franchise and the team will be owned by Haslam Sports Group, Nationwide, […]
Aerial view of Downtown Columbus Ohio with Scioto river. Getty Images.
Ohio will be home to a new National Women’s Soccer League team, but the team’s training facility will be built where a city park in an underserved area was previously promised various improvements.
Columbus was selected late last month as the NWSL’s 18th franchise and the team will be owned by Haslam Sports Group, Nationwide, and Drs. Christine and Pete Edwards.
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The team will play home games at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field — where the Columbus Crew play — but the training facility will be built at McCoy Park on the city’s southwest side, in the neighborhood with the state’s lowest life expectancy.
“We want to be excited about women’s professional soccer coming to the city of Columbus, but the fact that you did it off of the backs of an area that is so underserved … it has muddied any kind of excitement that would have been built around this team coming here,” said Columbus resident Jennifer Crayton.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers discovered Census Tract 51, which includes McCoy Park, had an average life expectancy of 60 years — the lowest in Ohio.
“It was a vital resource for a community that is continually underserved and we don’t have the equity that some of our other neighborhoods in Columbus have,” Crayton said.
“This is the only green space in this area between the south side and the west side of any significance that would be a safe place for our kids to go.”
The city of Columbus had previously announced plans to upgrade McCoy Park with adaptive soccer and softball fields, pickleball courts, a pond and a splash pad by next year, according to the city’s website.
Crayton’s husband is a disabled veteran, so they were looking forward to the adaptive fields.
“This park meant everything because it allowed him the ability to play with his kids again and create those memories that kids so desperately need with their parents,” she said.
The next closest park with adaptive fields would likely be in the suburbs, Crayton said.
“It’s too far for us to go,” she said.
The city of Columbus now has to come up with a plan to figure out where else in the Southwest Side they can build the type of park that was promised and the ownership group will donate $3 million toward the new park, Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin said.
The plan is for construction on a new park to break ground this year and for it to be complete by the end of 2027.
“Let me be very clear — no plans, no site, then no money,” Hardin said.
The City of Columbus and Franklin County will both pay $25 million to build the training facility at McCoy Park and upgrades to ScottsMiracle-Gro Field.
The city of Columbus plans to pay back its debt with a 2% ticket tax on all events at the ScottsMiracle-Gro Field.
“Everyone in our city will benefit from this team, which will create tax revenue and jobs, bring additional global notoriety to our city and show Columbus women and girls that we want them to shine on the biggest stage and under the brightest lights,” Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther said in a news release.
Hardin supports bringing a professional women’s soccer team to the city.
“I think it’s the right thing to do for our city, and I don’t want us to miss out,” he said during a press conference. “But how we do things matters. Process matters, and honoring commitments to neighborhoods, especially underserved neighborhoods, matters.”
He said there will be some public access to parts of the training complex, including some of the soccer fields.
Crayton invites Jimmy and Dee Haslam to Columbus’ south side neighborhood.
“Come walk this neighborhood with me,” she said. “Come see what we deal with because when you’re looking at it from the outside in, it has a different impact than when you’re looking from the inside out.”
The Haslam’s also own the Cleveland Browns and the Columbus Crew.
“Sports are one of today’s greatest unifiers and are incredible for their communities,” Haslam Sports Group Managing Partner Whitney Haslam Johnson said in a news release.
“The NWSL will have a significant impact on Columbus within and beyond sports, now and for future generations.”
The club is set to begin play in 2028 and the team’s official name and colors have yet to be determined.
“As the NWSL continues its rapid growth, expanding to Columbus is a natural next step,” NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman said in a news release.
“This is a city with a rich soccer tradition, a proven track record of support at the highest level, and an ownership group making meaningful, long-term investments in women’s sports.”
Follow Ohio Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on X or on Bluesky.
Category: General Sports
