USFL’s Gold Expected to Spend $200,000 on Training, Lodging : Denver Turns to CSUN After Arizona Turned Its Stomach

As preparations for Sunday’s Super Bowl continue under a microscope 400 miles to the north in Palo Alto, members of the Denver Gold are filtering into the Valley this week under far less scrutiny.

The United States Football League team, preparing for its third season, will train at Cal State Northridge. A mini-camp for rookies and “skill” people--such as quarterbacks and receivers--opened Tuesday. The main camp opens Monday.

It will continue through Feb. 23, when the team will break camp and fly to Oakland to meet the Invaders in their Feb. 24 season opener.

For the Valley and CSUN, the camp means money. The Gold is paying about $200,000 to live and train in Northridge, according to team publicist Steve Gerrish.

About $16,000 will be paid to CSUN for rental of its football facilities, said CSUN football Coach Tom Keele. The remaining funds are being paid to Northridge Campus Residence, an independently owned off-campus dormitory that will house the team.

In its first two seasons, Denver trained at a facility in Casa Grande, Ariz., but the players complained about the camp’s cuisine.

“A lot of the players just didn’t think they could stomach the food (in Casa Grande),” Gerrish said. “In fact, one time they all ordered out for pizza and ate it right there in front of the chef.”

Does the Gold have any assurance that the food will be better at Northridge Campus Residence?

“The team will be able to deal directly with the chef,” said Elaine Steinberg, the facility’s director.

The Gold will share the dormitory with CSUN students, but will eat more expensive, “upgraded” meals, Coach Darrel (Mouse) Davis said. Steinberg said the Gold will occupy about 10% of the facility.

Davis, who was hired by Denver last summer, said the team decided to relocate this season in part because of the food problems in Casa Grande, but also because Northridge is more accessible to airports and because CSUN was “absolutely super as far as its excitement about having a football team here.”

The Gold will use existing football facilities at CSUN and plans to give the school’s football program $5,000 for scholarships. It is also providing jobs for six or seven CSUN players, Keele said.

The CSUN coach, who has known Davis since both were high school coaches in Oregon about 20 years ago, called the Gold’s visit “an exciting thing for us. It’s a good thing for the area and for the program. . . . I’m sure a lot of coaches and a lot of young people will be coming around to watch the pros practice.”

The Gold is the second professional team to train in the area. The Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League have been training at Cal Lutheran College in Thousand Oaks for the past two decades.

The Los Angeles Express trains at Cal State Long Beach.

Local fans who embrace the Gold, however, will have only one chance to support the team locally during the regular season.

Denver meets the Express May 30 at the Coliseum.

Gold in the Valley: Fact Sheet

The USFL’s Denver Gold has trained in Arizona the past two seasons. This year, they will train at Cal State Northridge.

Schedule: Training for skill players--such as place-kickers and quarterbacks--began yesterday. The whole team will begin to train together Jan. 21. Camp ends Feb. 23. The team begins its season Feb. 24 at Oakland against the Invaders.

Practices: Twice a day and open to the public. 9-11:15 a.m. and 3-5:15 p.m.

Exhibition Game: Denver will play the Portland Breakers on Feb. 9 either at CSUN or at the Breakers’ training headquarters at Cal Poly Pomona.

Last year: Denver was 9-9 in 1984, finishing third in the four-team Pacific Division of the Western Conference behind the Los Angeles Express and the Arizona Wranglers.

Next year: The Gold, like the rest of the USFL, will switch to a fall schedule in 1986. Therefore, this will be the team’s last winter practice.