{"id":749626,"date":"2026-07-08T02:04:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T02:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/749626\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T02:04:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T02:04:14","slug":"thorns-now-training-at-new-dual-sport-womens-performance-facility-in-hillsboro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/749626\/","title":{"rendered":"Thorns now training at new dual-sport women&#8217;s performance facility in Hillsboro"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>HILLSBORO, Ore. (KATU) \u2014 For the first time, the Portland Thorns opened training to the media on Tuesday at the new Kaiser Permanente Performance Center, a first-of-its-kind dual-sport women&#8217;s performance facility that will serve as the future home of both the Thorns and the WNBA&#8217;s Portland Fire.<\/p>\n<p>Defender Sam Hiatt said having a permanent home built specifically for the club is about much more than a new building.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s so nice just having our own space,&#8221; Hiatt said. &#8220;If we want to switch fields or change our schedule, when it&#8217;s just ours, we can do that. The quality of the field is amazing, and everything around it is beautiful.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/katu.com\/sports\/fire-wnba\/raj-sports-announces-opening-date-for-thorns-and-fire-performance-center\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">RAJ Sports announces opening date for Thorns and Fire Performance Center<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Hiatt emphasized the Thorns always felt supported in Portland, but said the new facility represents another step forward for women&#8217;s professional sports.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We were very well taken care of already,&#8221; she said. &#8220;But having our own space helps us continue to reach the goals we&#8217;re striving for as a club.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The center features natural grass training fields, something Hiatt believes can make a significant difference for players.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think grass is the best,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You can feel the difference in your body and your joints. Long term, it would be great if we could all be playing on grass.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Thorns will also share the facility with the Portland Fire. Hiatt said the partnership creates a unique opportunity while still giving each team its own dedicated spaces.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think it raises the quality of the whole building,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It can become a facility that sets the standard for both leagues.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday, Aug. 22, will mark a historic milestone not only for Portland, but for women&#8217;s sports nationwide. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HILLSBORO, Ore. (KATU) \u2014 For the first time, the Portland Thorns opened training to the media on Tuesday&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":749627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-749626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=749626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/749627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=749626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=749626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=749626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}