News

Trophy Park, a planned multi-purpose sports, performance lifestyle and community complex in Jackson, NJ, today announced a letter of agreement with AstroTurf Corporation to be the supplier of synthetic turf surfaces for its athletic fields planned for the new youth sports facility.

As part of the agreement, AstroTurf Corporation-certified crews will install AstroTurf Synthetic Turf Systems for soccer, baseball, unified lacrosse and field hockey fields.  Inlaid markings will be provided for each field.

“The AstroTurf Corporation is world-renowned as the leader in synthetic sports field surfaces and the ideal partner for the scope of our plans to make Trophy Park a world-class facility,” said Mick Smoothey, President of Sports Operations for Trophy Park.

“Being chosen as a trusted partner by Trophy Park is very exciting for AstroTurf. We are looking forward to working with the team at Trophy Park to help them realize the full potential of their youth sports project in New Jersey,” said AstroTurf Director of Soccer Carl Capellas. “The magnitude of this complex will allow AstroTurf to showcase their synthetic surfaces for multiple sports on outdoor fields as well as indoor soccer fields.”

About Trophy Park:

Trophy Park is a planned world-class, multi-purpose indoor and outdoor athletic complex in Jackson, New Jersey, opening in mid-2021. The all-star campus will have the ability to host over 2,000 athletes per week. Trophy Park expects nearly one million visitors per year by presenting youth athletic tournaments, events, and sports camps to teams and individual athletes locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. Sports include soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, baseball, softball, basketball, volleyball, wresting, cheer and more.

The complex will feature two Wyndham hotels including 300 rooms, and a unique Athlete Village with self-contained Athletes Suites for teams and coaches. Fields and courts include 16 baseball/softball fields, plus batting cages with turf and lights; 10 lacrosse, soccer, field hockey fields; a 400,000 square foot, 16-court indoor facility for basketball, volleyball, cheer, wrestling and a 6,000-seat outdoor stadium with grass and lights. For more information, visit www.trophypark.net.

About AstroTurf:

About AstroTurf® For athletes and sport enthusiasts, AstroTurf® has redefined the way the game is played. The brand offers advanced, state-of-the-art, multi-sport and specialized synthetic turf systems with proprietary engineered technologies. A growing number of high schools, colleges, professional sports teams and municipalities continue to select AstroTurf-branded products for their premium quality, technical superiority, and safety. To learn more, visit AstroTurf’s website at www.astroturf.com.

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Trophy Park, a planned multi-purpose sports, performance lifestyle and community complex in Jackson, NJ, today announced the selection of Fastlane as its agency of record (AOR) for strategy, sponsorship management and marketing support.

Under the agreement, Fastlane to provide strategic messaging and positioning, sponsorship asset development, partner management and marketing support.  Fastlane to leverage its extensive partner network to establish agreements for Trophy Park with key brands and business partners, such as naming rights, title, presenting and one-off sponsors, technology, streaming, merchandising, licensing and other services.

“Fastlane came recommended and after a thorough agency review process, we found their skillset, experience and network to be exactly what we’re looking for at this point to continue to expand the physical and digital Trophy Park brand,” said Alan Nau, CEO of Trophy Park. “We continue to build our operations and take all the important steps to establish Trophy Park as a truly world-class, powerhouse destination of choice for youth sports tournaments, peak performance and athletics at all levels.”

“With the youth sports industry currently valued at $15 billion and growing and 45 million children playing organized sports nationally, Trophy Park is well positioned to capture a percentage of that market. And, that’s all before adding digital integration, apps, online learning, video coaching and logical eSport extensions,” said Chris Faust, Founder & CEO of Fastlane. “We look forward to putting Trophy Park on the map.”

About Trophy Park:

Trophy Park is a planned world-class, multi-purpose indoor and outdoor athletic complex in Jackson, New Jersey, opening in mid-2021. The all-star campus will have the ability to host over 2,000 athletes per week. Trophy Park expects nearly one million visitors per year by presenting youth athletic tournaments, events, and sports camps to teams and individual athletes locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. Sports include soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, baseball, softball, basketball, volleyball, wresting, cheer and more.

The complex will feature two Wyndham hotels including 300 rooms, and a unique Athlete Village with self-contained Athletes Suites for teams and coaches. Fields and courts include 16 baseball/softball fields, plus batting cages with turf and lights; 10 lacrosse, soccer, field hockey fields; a 400,000 square foot, 16-court indoor facility for basketball, volleyball, cheer, wrestling and a 6,000-seat outdoor stadium with grass and lights. For more information, visit www.trophypark.net.

About Fastlane:

Founded in 2006 and headquartered in New York City, Fastlane Communications, LLC is a leading independent, full-service branding, marketing and communications firm that helps its valued clients expand market share, mind share and heart share. The agency serves early-stage, mid-market and large enterprise-class companies with a B2B and/or B2C focus across several industries. The agency’s best practices include integrated Strategy, Branding, Creative, Content and A’ La Carte Marketing Services (i.e. PR, Social, SEM, eCommerce, Video, Website, Events). For more information, visit www.fastlane.co.

commARCH Forms Unique Partnership With Trophy Park Project to Offer Education and Insights for Architects & Property Owners/Developers

JACKSON, N.J. – To offer a unique information opportunity to its audience, commARCH (Commercial Architecture Magazine) has formed a partnership with the architects and developers of Trophy Park, a major sports complex being built in Jackson, New Jersey.

Through the partnership, commARCH will have unprecedented access to every phase of the project’s planning and construction. ”During a unique time in this nation’s economic history, Trophy Park will set an example for others in the industry to follow,” according to Dean Horowitz, Chief Product Officer at commARCH.

The developers of Trophy Park share Horowitz’s enthusiasm.

Alan Nau, CEO of Trophy Park said, “Nothing has been built of the scale and timeline of Trophy Park. The experience of the teams involved will provide great insights for others to follow.”

“Trophy Park is an exemplary project. It is being funded, and built, during one of the harshest economic climates,” added Nau. “To be able to provide deep coverage of this initiative will be an amazing opportunity for architects and owners/developers to experience and learn from.”

“commARCH is a tremendous information resource, and we are excited to work closely with them over the next year as we  build Trophy Park,” said Greg Cox, Founder, Aquatecture, Trophy Park’s architectural firm.

About Trophy Park

Trophy Park is a planned world-class, multi-purpose indoor and outdoor athletic complex in Jackson, New Jersey, opening in mid-2021. The all-star campus will have the ability to host over 2,000 athletes per week. Trophy Park expects nearly one million visitors per year by presenting youth athletic tournaments, events, and sports camps to teams and individual athletes locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. Sports include soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, baseball, softball, basketball, volleyball, wresting, cheer and more.

The complex will feature two Wyndham hotels including 300 rooms, and a unique Athlete Village with self-contained Athletes Suites for teams and coaches. Fields and courts include 16 baseball/softball fields, plus batting cages with turf and lights; 10 lacrosse, soccer, field hockey fields; a 335,000 square foot, 16-court indoor facility for basketball, volleyball, cheer, wrestling and a 6,000-seat outdoor stadium with grass and lights. For more information, visit www.trophypark.net.

About commARCH

commARCH (Commercial Architecture magazine) is a multiplatform, b2b media company serving early- to mid-career architects and owners/developers primarily in North America. For more information, visit www.commARCH.com and/or subscribe at https://ideasoil.dragonforms.com/loading.do?omedasite=commARCH_new

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Trophy Park Adds President of Sports Operations & President of Operations, COO to Management Team

Trophy Park, the planned world-class, multi-purpose indoor and outdoor athletic complex in Jackson, New Jersey which plans to open in 2021, will now have two experienced executives heading its day-to-day operations.

Mick Smoothey, the former Chief Executive Officer and Founder of U.K. Elite Soccer and Chief Executive of Global Team Events based in Cedar Knolls, NJ has joined Trophy Park as President of Sports Operations and Bill Muirhead, former CEO of Star Parks and long-time executive with Six Flags has been named President of Operations and COO.  The announcements were made by Alan Nau, CEO of Trophy Park.

“We are extremely fortunate to add two highly-respective sports executives in Mick Smoothey and Bill Muirhead to our management team at Trophy Park,” stated Nau.  “Both bring unique skill sets to their positions. Mick has successfully launched and managed soccer and team event companies that have employed hundreds of employees with thousands of athletes competing while Bill has run amusement parks across Europe as CEO of StarParks and Six Flags European Division as well as serving here as VP and General Manager of Six Flags Great Adventure from 1999-2001.

Smoothey launched U.K. Soccer in 1992 and grew it into a $16 million dollar company with over 300 employees, multiple lines of business, serving the needs of 50,000 soccer players.  He also founded Global Team Events in 2005, a sports travel, event management and experiential firm offering travel, tournament, event management and sponsorship activation services.  The two firms were eventually purchased in 2013 by Steel Sports and Smoothey continued to operate the businesses in his role as CEO.

Muirhead co-founded and served as CEO of StarParks with the private equity firm Palamon Capital Partners. The company was comprised of seven amusement parks throughout Europe. Three parks were located in France, two in Belgium, one in the Netherlands and one in Germany.  The parks were purchased from the Six Flags Corporation.

Muirhead’s marketing expertise helped the company win IAAPA European divisions “Best Marketing Plan” and “Best TV Ad Campaign” consecutively for three years. He also successfully negotiated marketing rights with Universal Studios for the Shrek 4D attraction, the only Universal brand attraction in Europe as well as Nickelodeon to brand its characters in the Moviepark in Germany.  He also successfully negotiated with Dreamworks to develop an attraction based on the Ice Age movie and characters. It is the only Ice Age attraction in the world and won the industry wide recognized THEA Awards for best attraction.

Jersey Bearcats Arena Football Team, New Jersey’s newest indoor developmental football team that was 9-1 in their inaugural season playing in the Major Indoor Football League, is the latest sports entity to sign a letter of intent to play their games at Trophy Park. Jersey Bearcats games will be hosted in Trophy Park’s planned 400,000 square foot indoor facility.

“Our plans for Trophy Park always centered on providing a platform for hosting the leading youth sports tournaments in the country here in Jackson, New Jersey,” says Alan Nau, President and CEO of Trophy Park. “Since our announcement, we have been extremely pleased by not only the reaction of youth organizations but collegiate and professional sports organizations as well. That is why we are excited to have the commitment by the Jersey Bearcats to bring their Arena Football action to Trophy Park.”

“On behalf of the Jersey Bearcats Arena Football Team, I can’t tell you how excited we are about the opportunity to play in 2021 at the new state of the art facility, Trophy Park, the Northeast’s premier facility for family entertainment. We are very much looking forward to the future and the new home of the Jersey Bearcats,” said Jermaine Sanders, co-owner of the Jersey Bearcats.

The Jersey Bearcats join STEPS Lacrosse LLC, a US Lacrosse Sanctioned Event Operator, which annually hosts the most sought after events in the country and Northeast Academy, a National Development Academy that has been sanctioned by USA Rugby as the official Academy (Men & Women) in the Northeast of America and as a designated pathway to the USA Eagles National Team selection as the latest sports organizations to sign letters of intent to have their events hosted at Trophy Park.

STEPS Lacrosse and Northeast Academy Sign Letters of Intent to Play at Trophy Park

Jackson, NJ –  STEPS Lacrosse LLC, a US Lacrosse Sanctioned Event Operator, which annually hosts the most sought after events in the country and Northeast Academy, a National Development Academy that has been sanctioned by USA Rugby as the official Academy (Men & Women) in the Northeast of America and as a designated pathway to the USA Eagles National Team selection, are the latest sports organizations to sign letters of intent to have their events hosted at Trophy Park.

Trophy Park is a planned world-class, multi-purpose indoor and outdoor athletic complex in Jackson, New Jersey, that will be equipped with team hotel housing and a 400,000 square foot indoor facility.  Trophy Park will create $2 million in tax revenues for Jackson and 265 full-time jobs and 1,000 seasonal positions.

“We are very excited to add these two outstanding US-sanctioned organizations to our roster of sports groups committed to holding their events at Trophy Park,” said Alan Nau, President and CEO of Trophy Park. “Organizations clearly see Trophy Park as the beacon for amateur sports in the United States.”

“It is with great pride that STEPS Lacrosse will be a strategic partner of Trophy Park,” said Charlie Shoulberg, CEO of STEPS Lacrosse.   “Alan Nau’s vision to build a world class facility is inspirational!” Shoulberg added, “Our mission to provide industry best practices and family friendly experiences can only be enhanced by hosting events at Trophy Park.”

Sean Horan, Founder and Director of Northeast Rugby Olympic Development Academy, in hi Letter of Intent stated: “The Academy would like to hold combines, camps, clinics and tournaments at the Trophy Park facilities when they become available. We plan on holding events that cater to Local, Regional, National and International Athletes and teams. With Rugby being one of the fastest growing sports in the United States and our Men’s and Women’s Olympic teams being ranked #2 in the world having already qualified for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo these are exciting times for the sport. Partnering with a world class facility like Trophy Park will enhance the world class high performance experience.”

About Trophy Park

Trophy Park will feature 16 baseball/softball fields, plus batting cages; 10 lacrosse/soccer/field hockey fields, including practice fields; a 400,000 square foot, 18 court indoor facilities for basketball/volleyball/cheer/wrestling and 6,000 seat outdoor stadium.

About STEPS Lacrosse, LLC:

STEPS Lacrosse, LLC is an industry leader in event management, elite level club programs, collegiate showcases and grass roots lacrosse development programs.  STEPS Lacrosse is a US Lacrosse Sanctioned Event Operator, which annually hosts the most sought after events in the country.  Lax for the Cure, STEPS Flagship event, has donated over $3,000,000 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure since inception.  Other events owned and operated by STEPS Lacrosse, LLC:  Live Love Lax, the Nike G8, Nike XPO Prospect Camps and the Jersey Strong Showcase.

About Northeast Academy:

Northeast Academy is sanctioned by USA Rugby as the official development pathway organization in the Northeast region of the USA and designated pathway to USA Eagles selection. The purpose of the Academy is to identify, develop and prepare rugby players for placement onto the USA National team and USA Olympic team. The Academy provides athletes with top level coaching, physical preparation, and playing competition to accelerate their personal development as rugby players in line with current USA Eagles High Performance criteria.

At its February 4, 2019 meeting the Jackson Planning Board approved Trophy Park’s General Development Plan.  The next step for the project is for Trophy Park to submit a site plan.

The news about Trophy Park and the plans for making it a hub for youth sports tournaments, camps and events is drawing international interest as well. Recently representatives from three major European sports organizations expressed interest in competing at Trophy Park.

“We would certainly be interested in attending a tournament at the Trophy Park facility. It appears to be developing all of the components that would interest Huddersfield Town in participating in a high level tournament in the USA.” Lee Bromby, Huddersfield Town Youth Development Director

“Manchester United are always interested in attending high level international tournaments. Trophy Park appears to be an environment that would appeal to our academy teams. We look forward to attending a high level event once the complex is completed.” Hasney Aljofree, Man Utd U12 & U14 Head Coach

“With this type of multi-purpose sports facility in development, and the proximity to NYC and other major attractions close by, Trophy Park can provide a professional and multi-cultural experience that premier league academy and youth team players will enjoy and learn from. We will certainly be interested in exploring the potential of attending highly competitive top-class soccer events at Trophy Park in the future.” Stephen Torpey, Head of Youth Development at Manchester City

The team from Trophy Park, a planned world-class, multi-purpose indoor and outdoor athletic complex in Jackson, NJ, will go before the Jackson Planning Board on Monday evening, Dec. 3 at 7.30 pm.

At the meeting, representatives from Trophy Park will outline plans for the one-of-a-kind youth sports facility that will be located on 200 acres in Jackson and will become the “Youth Sports Capital of the East Coast.”

With the Youth Sports Industry currently valued at $15 billion and growing and 45 million children playing organized sports nationally, Trophy Park is designed to capture a percentage of that market and lure young athletes and their families to New Jersey in order to compete in tournament play.

Trophy Park plans to open in early 2020.