Trae Young's athletic center opens in Norman: 'Really nothing like it in the country.'

NORMAN — Whenever Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young and his family first came up with the idea for the Young Family Athletic Center, it took a creative vision.

In 2015, Norman voters passed “Norman Forward,” a 15-year tax to pay for quality-of-life projects across the city. Included in the plans was a community recreational center that planned to house a few basketball and volleyball courts, aiming to promote the growth of youth athletics in the area.

Following the formation of The Trae Young Family Foundation in 2019, city officials approached the former University of Oklahoma and Norman North star and his family about partnering to make the athletic facility a reality.

“Yeah, Dad, you know,” Trae told his father, Rayford, “I would love to partner with them. But if we're going to do it, it's got to be the real deal. It's got to be big.”

Fast forward a few years later and that structure that currently stands on 2201 Trae Young Drive is one of the most revolutionary youth athletic facilities in the country.

The 122,000-square-foot center built on a 12-acre site opened its doors on Jan. 20 with the start of YFAC Basketball League play and held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday. It features two competitive swimming and diving pools, nine basketball courts with 12 overlaid volleyball courts and 18 pickleball courts. It also houses a 25,000-square foot space that will serve as a sports and human performance center with physician clinics.

“It was definitely needed for the city,” Norman North High School's boys basketball coach and supervisor of the new facility Kellen McCoy told The Oklahoman. “As a high school coach, it gives us the ability to have some more facilities and some more options to use in different seasons of sports when schools are tight for space.

“For local use, it gives us the ability to have some local tournaments and some national tournaments in Norman so our families don't have to travel all over the country to get a certain level of basketball and volleyball, and we get people in Norman some more opportunities to do some pickleball stuff, as well.”

The Young family’s foundation donated $4 million toward the center.

The total project budget for the center was nearly $36 million funded through the Young family’s donation, $22.5 million from the sales tax, a $2.7 million construction supplement from the University North Park Tax Increment District and $6.7 million from Norman Regional Health Systems for the NMotion sports and human performance center.

The center also displays a 74-foot video screen to display live games. The screen has recently played Trae’s Hawks highlights on loop.

That vision the family had to go big wasn’t exclusive to the infrastructure. The main objective remains to hold national basketball tournaments for top prospects from across the country to travel to compete and showcase their talents in front of college coaches and scouts.

“(Trae) just wants to give that next kid the opportunity,” Rayford said. “He wants to show that next kid that, ‘Man, you don't have to be a 6-foot-10 giant, you don't have to be the most athletic kid in the world. With hard work and dedication and believing in yourself, this is what can happen.’

“It’s amazing. There’s really nothing like it in the country.”

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‘There was really nothing south of Oklahoma City’

Growing up in Norman, Trae Young spent countless hours honing his skills and perfecting his craft at the local YMCA.

When he started playing in AAU tournaments in order to become acquainted with better competition, the family — like every other in the city at the time with young athletes — was forced to load up their car and drive.

The north side of Oklahoma City was the only local area where multisport gymnasiums equipped to hold those types of events were located at the time. And when Trae wasn’t hooping locally, the family would travel across the country in order to expose their son to higher levels of competition in front of scouts.

“When you speak locally, for me, that's Oklahoma City and really the state of Oklahoma,” Rayford said. “But that was one of the main goals was to bring opportunities south of Oklahoma City, right. When Trae was younger and he played in basketball tournaments locally we would have to drive to Edmond, there used to be the Transformation Center, you have the Santa Fe Club off 63rd Street ...

“ … There was really nothing south of Oklahoma City for kids to play in tournaments at. So, that was really one of the main goals.”

This summer, during the NCAA live period — the specific time of year when college coaches can watch an athlete compete in person or visit their school — the YFAC is planning on holding both a national men’s and women’s event.

“It would have just provided, for Trae, more of a national-type place,” Rayford said. “… Where this place is going to really stand out is in the spring and summer. Having some of the biggest national events that Trae used to play in, now those events are going to be in Norman. … You’re going to go to this facility and you’re going to see all of the top coaches in college basketball on the men’s and women’s side watching games and recruiting kids.

“That’s where it would’ve made the biggest difference for Trae; not having to go to Dallas, Houston, Chicago, New York or wherever. Now there’s gonna be those types of tournaments here. Now our local kids in our local scene are going to be able to be recruited on a national level because of playing in national tournaments.”

McCoy also grew up in Norman and said if these facilities existed when he played he would have never left the gym. In addition to national youth tournaments, both Norman high schools will have access to the facilities.

Norman's girls basketball team practiced in the facility Friday.

Al Beal, the Norman North girls basketball coach, is happy to see the investment into youth sports.

“It's huge, it's been a long time coming,” Beal said.

“I think it's just going to allow a lot of the kids that have to travel up to Edmond or Oklahoma City to train or have access to high quality facilities like that. It allows them the opportunity to stay around the area. …  Economically it is going to have a great impact on the city of Norman, but I just think it'll expose Norman and the youth around here to high quality basketball, volleyball and other sports.”

The national tournament events the center has planned will bring thousands of dollars to Norman as there are four hotels with 600 rooms within walking distance. Those attendees and their families will spend money locally, which will in turn boost the city’s economy.

City leaders have proposed plans for a $1 billion entertainment district in the area, which would feature restaurants, office space, additional parking and a multipurpose event center that would be the home of OU basketball and women’s gymnastics, housing and an additional hotel.

The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association has even approved the facility to hold high school swimming competitions. The two sides are also negotiating to hold the high school state tournament there beginning in 2025 or 2026.

For the Young family, it’s all about providing the youths in the community they love and call home with opportunity.

“I tell parents all the time, 'First of all, Trae has been very lucky and even very blessed,’” Rayford said. “It takes a little bit of both, right? It takes a lot of blessings and a little bit of luck to get to the position that he's in, as an NBA All-Star and All-NBA guy. But it all starts at a young age, right? The goal is to now give these kids here locally in the state of Oklahoma a chance to have national events where if families can’t afford to take kids to these national events.

“Now we have these events here in Norman, Oklahoma. I mean, it's crazy to even think about it.”

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‘Beyond amazing’

In addition to the various first-class basketball, volleyball and swimming amenities, what sets the center apart from others around the nation is the NMotion sports and performance center.

The Norman Regional Hospital has moved its sports rehab operations over to the facility between the natatorium and multi-sport areas of the building. The service aims to evaluate and treat various orthopedic injuries, including sports-related fractures, foot, ankle, hand and wrist conditions, and hip, knee and shoulder reconstructive surgery.

The physical therapy treatment the center offers includes 3D video analysis to assess injury likelihood and return to play testing and assessment. They also use specialized and sport-specific orthopedic and concussion management rehabilitation.

“Dad doesn’t have to pick their kid up and throw them in the car and take them to the hospital,” Rayford said. “You’re only 100 feet away from going to the next spot and getting X-rays.”

One of the only recreational centers nationally that compares to the level of facilities and medical care is the Sports Academy, formerly known as the Mamba Sports Academy which Kobe Bryant led before his death, in the Los Angeles area. Trae idolized Bryant growing up and the two formed a unique bond.

The YFAC also features an Adidas retail store. Trae signed a multi-year contract extension with the company in 2020 and has since unveiled three signature shoes, which are available for purchase at the center along with other Adidas apparel.

Trae even worked with Adidas to offer every kid in the YFAC league free uniforms.

“It's beyond amazing,” Rayford said. “… That was really special to him and our family. To be able to not charge kids for uniforms, having a local league, not a local tournament, but just a local rec league available to Norman and Moore kids. It's been crazy seeing all the people and all the parents. There were so many parents that were crying just tears of joy and happy that they had this opportunity in Norman. So it was just cool for us to see that.”

Since starring for the Sooners and being selected No. 5 overall in the 2018 NBA Draft, Trae’s stardom has only skyrocketed. This past weekend, he participated in his third NBA All-Star Game and finished second in the event’s 3-point shooting contest.

Before he coached the Tigers’ girls basketball squad, Beal moved from South Florida to play center for OU. He’s lived in the city since, grew a relationship with Rayford and had the opportunity to watch him train Trae from a young age.

“(This center) definitely would have helped him,” Beal said. “He was so driven. … At Norman North, when he played he was must-see TV and his dad, having played at a high level, would always just keep him focused. Because there were so many distractions as you might think for a kid that talented getting that much attention.

“And he was always respectful. He worked on that aspect of it because so many kids with much less talent that I've seen over the years, they get kind of arrogant and so forth. … And that wasn’t him.”

From nutmegging Midwest City and Mustang players as a star for Norman North to knocking down logo-3s against NBA teams, Trae is the same as the kid in the local YMCA hungry for competition.

While he wasn't in attendance for the ceremony Monday due to taking his 2-year-old son to Disney World during the All-Star break, Trae is looking forward to being back home this summer to watch some of the brightest young talent in his old stomping grounds.

“Every day you just want to pinch yourself,” Rayford said. “I'm a religious person, a God-fearing person and I know that this is coming from a good place. … He's just a kid who grew up in Norman, Oklahoma. I mean, there's no way 15 years ago you could have convinced me my little small kid that was skin and bones would be at this level where he's at playing in the NBA and making All-Star teams and breaking records and doing some of the things he's doing.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Atlanta Hawks' Trae Young opens athletic facility in Norman, Oklahoma