Life Time, Chanhassen, Minnesota, is opening a new soccer-centric sports concept southwest of Minneapolis this fall, the health club company announced on Sept. 5. It is expected to open sometime after September.
Life Time Sport will be housed inside the former Minnesota Vikings practice facility at Winter Park in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The concept is intended to offer an alternative to organized team sports for children and fitness options for adults.
"As I reflect on my youth, I recall how much fun playing soccer brought me," Life Time CEO Bahram Akradi said in a media release. "Every day after school, I dropped my books at home and joined my friends in the street to play this great sport. Nothing was structured and, along the way, we all learned valuable leadership lessons and life skills. Today, as a parent of young kids, I realize it is quite the opposite. Our lives, and those of our children, now are so incredibly organized, it can be inconvenient and exhausting. That's why I'm so passionate about Life Time Sport, which offers fun, free play and a controlled level of guidance from a coach so kids can get back to just being kids."
By design, parents are encouraged to drop off their children at Life Time Sport, where they will be divided by age and ability into teams that compete in low-pressure scrimmages. Certified coach-referees will supervise the play. This programming is available to Life Time members as well as non-members, the release said.
The complex's indoor football field is currently being renovated into six to eight small-sized soccer fields that can accommodate up to 80 players, while the complex's existing outdoor football fields will be converted into at least 12 additional fields to support over 120 players. For adults, Life Time is also constructing a viewing area, lounge rooms with TVs and an exercise equipment room.
"Life Time has been a long-standing and valued partner of the Minnesota Vikings for decades," Vikings executive Kevin Warren said in the release. "We are excited to know Winter Park will be filled with fun through Life Time Sport while we continue to evaluate the long-term redevelopment plans for the property."
A wait list for families interested in Life Time Sport is available online.
Life Time currently operates 138 locations across the United States and Canada. In April, the company launched its new shared workspace concept Life Time Work, with locations in Princeton, New Jersey, Ardmore, Pennsylvania, and Boston.
Life Time ranked second on Club Industry's Top 100 Health Clubs of 2018 list with an estimated $1.55 billion in 2017 revenue.