Why this LaLiga soccer club is bringing a world-class residential academy to Erie

What do Erie Sports Center and a top-level Spanish soccer club have in common?

Quite a lot, they recently learned. Now, they’re partnering to create a first-of-its-kind program in Erie.

Sports center owner Troy Bingham has joined forces with LaLiga club Villarreal CF, which competes in Spain's premier soccer division, to create a residential soccer academy on campus in Summit Township. It’s not just a marketing scheme ― with a common focus on player development and community building, both sides feel they can make Erie a training destination for players from across the world.

“Every single thing that you would get at an academy in Spain, you will get right here in Erie, Pennsylvania,” said Bingham, who has pursued the project for more than a year. “This will be the premier soccer development facility in the region.”

High school-aged players will live, train and study at Erie Prep Academy under Villarreal’s guidance. They’ll also travel to Spain each year for two weeks of training.

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“It’s a matter of creating community and giving opportunities to international players here,” said David Navarro, international technical director of Villarreal Academy. “It fits perfectly with how Villarreal thinks ― we always say that our players must be both playing (soccer) and studying something. It’s a perfect match.”

Why Erie?

It started with a phone call from someone seeking a tournament site.

Bingham fielded the call, and after asking several questions, connected with Brandon Paramo, Villarreal’s international business manager. When Bingham acquired the housing facility that will house Erie Prep Academy, discussions between he and Paramo accelerated.

“The other (clubs) we had started discussions with were interested in us paying some kind of license fee up front and paying more money for a bunch of other stuff,” Bingham said. “We were looking for more of a partnership ― someone who is invested in helping grow the game here and who is going to help us truly develop players.”

Paramo and a colleague then visited the sports center, after which Bingham made a return trip to Spain. After 12 months of communication, meetings and idea swapping, the sides agreed: they’d create Villarreal’s first residential soccer academy in Erie.

“The big difference is having this huge complex and the help of (Bingham) ― he is aligned with all of the things we think in Villarreal,” Navarro said. “Not just in (soccer), but in community, because in the end this is a way to help players develop and become better people.”

What makes the academy unique?

Villarreal now has nine partner academies in the United States ― Indiana, Las Vegas, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia ― and four more in Canada. It also has international academies scattered throughout the world, including Australia, South Korea, Japan, Kuwait, Israel and South America.

None of those, however, is a residential academy, meaning players do not live and study at the training center. That’s the difference with the Erie project.

“We have to go step by step,” Navarro said. “At the beginning, we will create the team and residential program, but in the future, our vision is to bring all the best players from our international academies ― specifically in the United States but open to the entire world.”

Parallels between Erie and Villarreal already exist.

Villarreal’s city population is roughly 51,000, a small LaLiga market. Its stadium fits just 26,000 but boasts about 20,000 season-ticket holders, proving its community prevalence.

Villarreal CF has a three-level housing facility at its home academy; the sports center has a four-wing housing facility. Both sites have nine fields for training. Above all, they share an interest in community engagement.

“We’re going to replicate in a large way what their training and match-day facilities look like,” Bingham said. “Our full-time academy kids will wear exactly the same gear as the academy kids in Spain.”

How will the academy be structured?

Soccer programs will be available to local children as young as age 3. Villarreal Erie travel teams will begin at age 6, emulating other Villarreal-affiliated programs in the U.S.

Erie Commodores FC will continue to operate its travel teams through U19. Villarreal Erie teams ― considered a step up from the Commodores ― will co-exist at the sports center but compete separately.

Once players reach ninth grade, most will continue with the Commodores, while elite-level players will train in a professional style at Erie Prep Academy. International players will be brought to the latter, the goal being to establish a second world-class training ground that emulates Villarreal’s home in Spain.

Erie Sports Center will host tournaments, talent identification weekends, camps and clinics to determine where each player will be best suited.

“The main purpose of this is to give all international players an opportunity to come here and be trained by coaches from Villarreal at this huge complex,” Navarro said. “As a consequence, now that we have all the best players here, we can say, 'OK, can that player fit Villarreal?' If not, they will have different options.”

The overarching goal is to create pathways.

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For the right player, that pathway could be to Villarreal’s academy in Spain. For others, however, it could be to a low-level European club, a Major League Soccer club or a college scholarship.

Regardless, the resources are in place, and the program’s first student-athletes will begin seeking their own pathway this coming fall.

Contact Jeff Uveino at juveino@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter@realjuveino.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie PA Sports Center, Villarreal CF form first-of-kind soccer academy