The Los Angeles Sparks are constructing a brand new apply facility, however some WNBA groups lag behind

The Los Angeles Sparks are the most recent WNBA workforce to start plans to assemble their very own apply facility. For the final two seasons, the Sparks practiced at El Camino School, a group faculty in Torrance, California.

“We’re constructing greater than a apply facility; we’re investing in the way forward for ladies’s basketball in Los Angeles,” mentioned Sparks governor Eric Holoman in a press release. “This facility is a part of a broader imaginative and prescient to raise the LA Sparks because the premier franchise within the WNBA and to create an atmosphere the place our gamers have each useful resource they should obtain greatness. Los Angeles is a metropolis of champions, and we’re decided to convey that successful legacy to the Sparks.”

With the announcement, the Sparks change into the third workforce with plans for their very own apply facility within the coming years. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has harassed that team-specific apply amenities are key priorities for enlargement groups. They’re one thing that gamers themselves have been fairly outspoken about all through the years.

4 groups which have their very own apply amenities

The Las Vegas Aces set the tone for the remainder of the league after they unveiled their practice facility. Forward of the 2023 season, the workforce constructed a $40 million, 64,000 square-foot-facility. Two basketball courts, weight rooms, coaching rooms, a movie room, a participant lounge, a household room, locker rooms, cold and hot plunge swimming pools, an infrared sauna, cryotherapy, a diet bar, and extra.

Aces gamers have gushed in regards to the significance of one of these facility.

“For us to have this and to go from us not having lockers at one level to now having an HQ of our personal, I feel it goes to point out the course that we’re going and the place ladies’s basketball must go,” A’ja Wilson advised The Athletic quickly after the amenities have been unveiled.

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Picture by Ian Maule/NBAE through Getty Pictures

The Seattle Storm unveiled their very own facility in 2023 — a $64 million, 50,000 sq. foot facility referred to as the Seattle Storm Heart for Basketball Efficiency.

The Phoenix Mercury unveiled the brand new state-of-the-art amenities throughout WNBA All-Star weekend — a $100 million, 58,000 sq. foot facility in downtown Phoenix.

The Golden State Valkyries — set to hitch the league subsequent season — could have their very own state-of-the-art amenities from the start. The ability, based mostly in Oakland, is over 30,000 sq. ft.

3 groups share a devoted facility with their NBA counterparts

The Indiana Fever share a apply facility with the Indiana Pacers, on the Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the place additionally they play their video games. The Fever have been displaced from the Fieldhouse from 2000 to 2002, because it underwent renovations. Inside the facility, the Fever have their very own facilities.

The Minnesota Lynx share a apply facility with the Minnesota Timberwolves, on the Courts at Mayo Heart. The Lynx have been the primary WNBA workforce to have their very own designated apply area, which incorporates their very own court docket, locker room, and coaching areas. Building on this facility started in 2014, and for years, offered a giant distinction between the Lynx and different WNBA groups.

The Washington Mystics apply on the MedStar Well being Efficiency Heart, an area they share with the Washington Wizards. Gamers have 24/7 entry to the amenities, and get to learn from NBA sources.

4 WNBA groups have plans for their very own apply amenities

The Chicago Sky, Dallas Wings, and New York Liberty are all on observe for their very own amenities by 2026. The Sparks now be part of that group of groups with plans within the works, although there’s nonetheless no timetable for his or her facility’s development.

The Sky announced they’d construct a brand-new efficiency middle in July, a $38-million facility bigger than 40,000 sq. ft. That got here after years of training on the Sachs Recreation Center, a public facility that doesn’t belong to the Sky.

The Wings, in the meantime, are planning to relocate from Arlington, Texas to Dallas. Wings CEO Greg Bibb has shared that that transfer will include the workforce getting their very own apply facility, although restricted particulars have been shared: “We’re making a apply facility that’s on par with any NBA facility on the market.”

In July, Joe and Clara Wu Tsai introduced they have been constructing a apply facility for the Liberty in Brooklyn. At present, the Liberty make the most of the apply court docket at Barclay’s Heart. They solely a single court docket — not the 2 side-by-side courts which can be customary — however the facility’s location is handy.

2 WNBA groups haven’t any express plans for their very own apply amenities

The Atlanta Dream and Connecticut Solar are actually the one two groups that don’t have their very own apply facility — or a plan to construct one.

The Solar at the moment apply on the Tribal Observe Facility, part of the Mohegan Community and Government Center in Uncasville, Connecticut. The workforce doesn’t have unique entry to the ability, so gamers can’t use it year-round. The ability additionally lacks loads of the facilities knowledgeable basketball workforce’s devoted area would have. There have been a number of high-profile cases of the Solar being kicked out of the ability in favor of group occasions; for instance, throughout the first spherical of the playoffs in opposition to the Fever, they needed to share the court docket with a toddler’s birthday party.

The Atlanta Dream practices on the Core4 Athletic Complex, a facility constructed by former NBA participant Paul Millsap. The ability is skilled — it has a number of apply courts, a weight room, saunas, and so forth — however it’s not particularly theirs, and it’s about 23 miles from Gateway Heart, the place the workforce performs. `