New Camp Home Is First Class
From St. Joseph, Missouri
The Chiefs enjoyed first-class facilities at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls for the last 19 training camps.
But what they will have starting next week at Missouri Western State University will establish a new standard for NFL training camps. The work between the Chiefs and Missouri Western has created what is essentially a duplicate of the team’s facilities at the Truman Sports Complex.
There are no more excuses for any part of the Chiefs organization about going away to camp and not having the proper facilities or access. Other than being about 80 minutes away, there’s little missing from what’s on the Missouri Western campus. In fact, it’s a step above. The Chiefs indoor practice facility is not air conditioned. The 120-yard artificial turf indoor field in St. Joseph has plenty of air conditioning.
And that AC was humming on Wednesday as the school and the Chiefs opened the facility to the media and the school’s board of governors.
“I’m not sure among the teams that leave their facility for camp that there’s a better set up than what we have here,” said Chiefs president Denny Thum.
The new building not only includes the indoor football field, but a weight room, a locker room that can accommodate 120 people, a full-size training room including hot and cold plunge pools, a meeting room that can seat 120 people, along with other smaller meeting rooms and offices for each member of the coaching staff.
The Griffon Indoor Sports Facility sits next to Spratt Stadium and is up the hill from two brand new grass practice fields that were built for the Chiefs.
The only thing missing from this corner of the campus is the dining hall and dorm where the players and staff will spend the nights.
“The dorm is about one-eighth of a mile away, which is shorter than what we had in River Falls from dorm to the facility,” said Thum.
We’ll have more on the other items and features planned for this inaugural camp next week. But with the team a week away from arriving, most everything was ready to go. Some stands need to be placed around the practice fields and tents need to be erected, but otherwise the folks in St. Joe are ready to go.
And they are ready to go with a first-class facility.
Lets hope it helps produce a First Class Chiefs Team……
I live in donkey land aka Colorado and I read in the Denver Post that the donkey’s training camp will be open to the public, however there will be no bleachers or seating of any kind and fans are forbidden from bringing folding chairs. so as long as they can stand they can stay. Real fan friendly huh? I’m coming to St. Joe the watch the Chiefs!
Nate
The Hunt family and The Chiefs Organization is truly working hard to bring a class facility to St. Joe. The players and coaches will have the best practice failities to get this team on the winning ways again.
Go Chiefs!!!!!!!!
I’ll be there the 1st practice and the two on saturday and i hope they will be in pads!!! And i hope its not raining!
It’s disappointing that camp is not in River Falls anymore….I completely understand why….but disappointing. I’m going to miss seeing that place.
I am very excited to hear how great the Chiefs’ new training camp site will be. I’ve enjoyed having them here in Wisconsin and glad that my state tax dollars helped to give them the facilities they had. I will miss the 5 hour drive and seeing my Chiefs in training camp.
It’s your turn Missouri. Take good care of them! (tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek)
Go CHIEFS!
Any one remember Liberty Mo.!
This is going to be not far off, and I believe it is time the Chiefs come home. Looks like quite an upgrade…..
For those of us who’ve been fans of the team since the 60′s, we can appreciate the effort and work, the entire front office has put in, to bring OUR team back home, instead of letting the GM choose to make them train in another state!
The entire organization, from the past to present, also needs to be applauded, for constantly giving all NFL fans, the pleasure of state of the art facilities. Remember, Arrowhead is technically over 40 years old! Other stadiums. that are at least 10 years newer (or more), have either been rebuilt, or demolished/replaced.
One more tidbit.. the architects and designers of Arrowhead, have gone on to design and build most of the NFL stadiums used in other cities!
I only wish the idiots in Jackson county had enough sense to approve the construction of the movable “dome”, which would have improved attendance at all baseball and football games, as well as draw in more events, as well as a Superbowl (which had been promised to KC by 2015, if the measure had passed!)
Kudos to Jackson County voters, to throw away all the potential revenue that could have been gained from all that.