Carolina Core FC's new training facility, Go-Forth Elite Performance Center, is a candidate as a Team Base Camp for the 2026 World Cup
- Brian Maurer
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
By Brian Maurer
Carolina Core FC is getting set to open its new training facility, named the Go-Forth Elite Performance Center, before its MLS NEXT Pro home opener on Saturday. It's an 11,000 square foot facility that required an eight-figure investment. It will have a primary grass field that can be split into multiple smaller fields and then two turf fields for the academy players.
The vision for the facility is that it will be "where players are built." Similar to High Point's well-known furniture industry, Core FC players have to develop and create their product in their factory, the Go-Forth Elite Performance Center. They then get an opportunity to display their product in their showroom, on the pitch.
The facility will include a state-of-the-art locker room and weight room, as well as a therapy room and video room. There will also be office spaces for coaches and technical staff so the team can all work under one roof. "We certainly are setting a standard for the independent clubs [in MLS NEXT Pro]," said Carolina Core Principal Investor Megan Oglesby.
For Carolina Core Sporting Director Eddie Pope this facility unveiling is another sign of how far not only the High Point club has come, but the country's investment in soccer in general. "When I was at Salt Lake, our home locker room was in a strip mall," laughs Pope.
That instability at the time added extra pressure and stress on the players and coaches as their day-to-day work environment changed regularly. Pope mentioned that his time playing for DC United had far more structure and facilities that helped maintain a consistent environment. This made a lasting impression on Pope as he moved into his Front Office role post-playing career.
"You had stability and everything was organized and structured...for me I wanted to make sure when I came here that the players didn't have that issue," said Pope. "You're asking people to do a job, they have to have a place to work."
The facility will give Carolina Core FC's academy players a professional environment which will help them model the behaviors that improve their abilities on and off the field. "Everything from the film room to the locker rooms, to the fitness area, to the training room, the medical room, we wanted it to be at a level that is preparing [players] to get the experience of being treated like a professional in a professional environment and preparing them for the next level," said Oglesby.
Because the Core FC Academy will be in the same facility, academy players can watch First Team training and can earn opportunities to train with the First Team. "You start to live and breathe the sport," said Pope on what the facility will bring to player development.
The new facility has already garnered international interest. "FIFA reached out to us for World Cup 2026 as a potential Base Training Camp site, we are on the list...if we are selected, we will move out of our facility a World Cup team would move in and they would be here for as little as a month, training ahead of their first games," said Oglesby.
If Core FC's facility is selected and the World Cup team advances further in the tournament, they would continue using Go-Forth Elite Performance Center past the initial month of training and group stage games. "We had some site visits from some teams already...the feedback was very favorable," said Oglesby. "That gave us really good validation that folks from FIFA came in and were really impressed with everything that we have."
The new facility has also already helped the club as a recruiting tool as Core FC continues to improve their roster as they push for playoffs in year two. "We saw an increase in not only players domestically but also from abroad...we've seen that be a huge selling point and we've used it to our advantage," said Pope.
A recent example of the exposure the facility investment helped with was the loan transfer to bring Glory Nzingo, who came in from Swansea City. Nzingo is a young attacker who has earned call-ups to the Ireland U21 National Team and made his Core FC debut on Tuesday.
Carolina Core FC's Go-Forth Elite Performance Center is a statement of intent for the professional environment they aim to create for their player development, and their ability to bring interest from other domestic and international markets, adding a new level of excitement to the young club.
