National Sports Center
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| Location | Blaine, Minnesota |
|---|---|
| Owner | State of Minnesota |
| Operator | National Sports Center Foundation |
| Capacity | 10,000 |
| Surface | Natural grass |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1987 (money appropriated) |
| Opened | 1990 |
| Architect | none |
| Tenants | |
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Minnesota Thunder (1990–1993); (USL) (1994–2003) (2008–2009) Minnesota United FC (NASL) (2010–2016) Minnesota Wind Chill (AUDL) (2013–present) |
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| Website | |
| Official Website | |
The National Sports Center (NSC) is a 650-acre multi-sport complex located in Blaine, Minnesota. It includes a soccer stadium, over 50 full-sized soccer fields, a golf course, a velodrome, a meeting and convention facility, and an eight-sheet ice rink, the Schwan Super Rink, which is the largest ice arena in the world. The National Sports Center has hosted numerous National and World Championship events in soccer, hockey, figure skating, short track speedskating, broomball, rugby, ultimate and lacrosse. The National Sports Center opened in 1990 after 1987 legislature created the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission (MASC) and appropriated $14.7 million for the construction of the NSC. The facility welcomes over 3.8 million visitors annually, making it the most-visited sports facility in the state of Minnesota.
The Herb Brooks Foundation, the foundation created by the hockey coach's family, has partnered with the National Sports Center to develop the Herb Brooks Training Center, a state-of-the-art dryland and ice hockey training facility that is part of the Schwan Super Rink.
Each July, the National Sports Center plays host to Schwan's USA CUP, the largest soccer tournament in the Western Hemisphere with over 1,100 teams and participants from 19 countries.
The mission of the National Sports Center is two-fold: 1) to create out-of-state economic impact for Minnesota through amateur sports events, and 2) to create sports and fitness opportunities for Minnesota residents. The NSC is operated by the National Sports Center Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. Even though the facility is a State of Minnesota facility, and operations are overseen by the MASC, the NSC receives no operating subsidy from the state, and it is a self-supporting operation.
The NSC Stadium has a large grandstand along the west sideline of the field and smaller grandstands on the opposite sideline and on either end. The United States women's national soccer team has played four home matches at the NSC, including international matches against Canada, Australia, Norway and Sweden. Mia Hamm scored her 150th international goal at the NSC in a 3–0 victory over Australia in 2004. The NSC has also hosted men's U.S. national team U-17 and U-20 matches. The largest crowd in NSC history was for a 2001 women's soccer match between the United States and Canada, when 15,615 fans watched a 1–0 U.S. victory. The playing field is 118x75 yards.
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