Angel City FC will train at Cal Lutheran next two years
Angel City FC, which opened the first preseason camp in franchise history last month at Pepperdine, will announce Tuesday that it has reached an agreement with Cal Lutheran to use the Thousand Oaks campus as its permanent training base for the next two years.
As part of the agreement Angel City will support efforts to renovate the university’s North Field, where it will practice, and lay the foundation for the site of a future track after the club departs. The university has not had an on-campus track since 2004.
In addition to North Field, Angel City will use facilities within William Rolland Stadium and Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center.
“It’s wonderful to have a new home in Cal Lutheran, which provides the elements of a practice facility that an elite team needs to train at peak form,” Angela Hucles Mangano, Angel City’s vice president of player development and operations, said in a statement. “Finding so many high-quality features in one location in the greater Los Angeles area is rare, and Cal Lutheran has those elements.”
Cal Lutheran hosted the Dallas Cowboys training camp for 25 years and was also home to the men’s national water polo team. Most recently it has served as the training facility for Super Bowl champion Rams.
Angel City acquired the rights to Julie Ertz and Sarah Gorden, who will pair with Christen Press on the NWSL expansion club’s first roster.
Angel City had intended to hold all its practices at Cal Lutheran but the Rams’ run to the NFL title sent the soccer team to Pepperdine temporarily. The Rams have since entered into negotiations to buy the site of the former Woodland Hills Promenade shopping mall and build a team practice facility there.
As part of its agreement with the university, Angel City will provide internships to undergraduate and graduate students at Cal Lutheran, which began offering a bachelor’s degree in sports management in 2020.
