Among the many features that make the Golden Goal Soccer Tournament Park special is the facility’s ability to host teams for a week on site as they prepare for their upcoming season. This has become an increasing popular attraction, as the park not only provides a good residential experience, but a first-class competitive venue as well.

Golden Goal’s President, Peter Corbett, says the set-apart experience is a big reason why college, club and high school teams like to conduct training camp at the Fort Ann, NY, facility in the Adirondacks.

“Our six-day program is the signature program here, but increasingly we’re seeing teams come to use our facility and set up their own training in advance of their season,” Corbett said. “It’s very reminiscent of the part from “Remember the Titans” where the experience was as much about team bonding as it is training.”

Corbett added that strong customer service is also a featured attraction at Golden Goal.

“We’ll cater the time to what each team’s needs are. If they are interested in mental, tactical or physical training we can provide a four or five-day program,” he said. “Along with that we house them, feed them, give them access to conduct their own training on our fields and schedule friendly games with other clubs, colleges or schools, whether those teams are local or others staying at the facility.”

Corbett said convenience in planning pre-season activities provides a strong appeal for club, college and high schools teams.

“They don’t have to find places to go and things for them to do,” he said. “We offer them lodging and food packages and of course the cabins where the team members can stay together. We have a well-rounded facility, and many teams choose to split up their week with some off-site activity as well. Plus it gives them the opportunity to come here and see other teams in training and maybe mix and match as well.”

University of Vermont women’s head coach Kwame Lloyd brought his squad to Golden Goal last August and loved it.

“For us it was an amazing experience,” Lloyd said. “The staff there was very accommodating. The fields were awesome. The kids really felt they had a productive time and the food was good as well.”

Lloyd said the experience was good both in terms of soccer and team-building.

“Staying in the athletic village definitely enabled us to grow closer as a team. Having the options of using both the grass and the turf fields was very good for us,” he said. “I highly recommend it to any collegiate team who has the opportunity to get away from campus during preseason and focus on team-building and soccer and tactics. It was a great experience for us.”

Another development at Golden Goal is an agreement with MLS side New York Red Bull to conduct some individual player development training at the facility. We’ll have more on that in a future article.

For more information on camp and tournament packages at Golden Goal, go to: http://www.goldengoalsoccer.com/