A new sports therapy and research center now stands on the same 91-acre campus as the Dallas Cowboys’ headquarters and practice facility. The facility marks an innovative partnership between the NFL franchise, a healthcare provider, and a school district.
The Cowboys, along with healthcare provider Baylor Scott & White and the Frisco (Texas) independent school district, collaborated on the facility that will cater to everyone from professional football players to high school athletes and local residents. The 300,000-square foot center is a part of The Star, a sports and entertainment complex in the city of Frisco, in the northern bounds of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
Architecture firm Perkins + Will led the plans for the center, emphasizing design convergence—a blend of all facets of wellbeing, including strength training, physical therapy, sports medicine, surgery, and more. Fusionetics’ tech-driven health and performance system is integrated throughout. An outpost of the Gatorade Sports Science Institute is also housed on site. (A partial virtual tour of the complex is available via 360-degree imagery or virtual reality.)
“The complex is designed to showcase the link between active lifestyles and physical health so that every visitor leaves feeling more informed and inspired,” said Ron Stelmarski, principal at Perkins+Will and lead designer of the complex, in a press release. “Wellness education and inspiration, coupled with a holistic approach to diagnosis, treatment, and recovery, promote the health and well-being of a community. The Sports Therapy & Research facility is a shining example of a new kind of architecture that supports the improvement of population health through physical fitness.”
SportTechie Takeaway
State-of-the-art training facilities for pro sports teams are hardly new, but the accessibility of services offered here to high school athletes and local residents is truly unique. (For example, the center will dwarf a planned 37,000 square-foot fitness center the 49ers plan to open for Bay Area residents in the fall.) Fusionetics is a leading sports performance company catering to elite athletes and now to those playing high school sports, too. Frisco ISD includes 10 high schools whose student-athletes will now reap the benefits of this partnership, too.