Louisville NWSL team ownership proposes multimillion-dollar facility at Champions Park

Plans for a training facility and practice fields at a local park may be underway for Louisville's National Women's Soccer League team, which will begin play in 2021.

A proposal by Soccer Holdings LLC, which owns men's club Louisville City FC and will operate the women's team, Proof Louisville FC, calls for the city to lease a roughly 20-acre portion of Champions Park along Edith Road for facilities for the recently announced women's team.

Pitching the idea to Louisville Metro Council's Parks and Sustainability Committee last week, James O'Connor, former Louisville City FC coach and executive vice president of development for Soccer Holdings, said the project "presents a wonderful opportunity for us as a city to be able to showcase the whole city."

While the NWSL team inspired the proposal, O'Connor also said that the practice fields — a few grass and four turf — would be available to youth leagues, such as soccer, field hockey and lacrosse.

"We see the opportunity to be able to give our women’s team a great platform to be able to train at a high level on a daily basis and also provide the community with some more facilities that are badly needed," O'Connor said.

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Along with the fields, the proposal also calls for the construction of a one-story building, which will serve as the locker room and officers for the NWSL team.

Tim Mulloy, a board member of Soccer Holdings and Louisville businessman, said the group is not asking the city for money but rather permission to use the land. Mulloy estimated the project would cost roughly $10 million to $12 million.

"I will make this point crystal clear: There’s a lot more to be figured out," Mulloy said.

The men's team practices at Thurman Hutchins Park. However, O'Connor said that Louisville City FC may practice at the facility at Champions Park, especially if Thurman Hutchins floods.

Both the men and the women will play in the new Lynn Family Stadium in Butchertown, which opens in April. With the women set to begin play in 2021, the group hopes to move along the Champions Park proposal, which needs both city and state approval.

Built on top of an old landfill, Champions Park previously housed music festivals Bourbon & Beyond and Louder Than Life. However, because of damage due to heavy flooding, events producer Danny Wimmer Presents had to move the two festivals and the debuting Hometown Rising to the Kentucky Expo Center in 2019.

More: Louisville City FC announces its home opener date in Lynn Family Stadium

Contact Ben Tobin at bjtobin@gannett.com and 502-582-4181 or follow on Twitter @TobinBen. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: subscribe.courier-journal.com.