Rams Will Use Cal Lutheran University as Temporary Training Facility
The Los Angeles Rams will have to wait at least a few years until they have a training facility they can call their own. In the meantime, the team came to an agreement with Cal Lutheran University that will allow the Rams to train on the Thousand Oaks, California, campus, per Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times, citing a school announcement Wednesday.
Rams chief operating officer Kevin Demoff released a statement about the move:
We are excited to partner with Cal Lutheran to use their exceptional campus as the temporary home for team facilities that will be outstanding for our players and football staff. The Rams look forward to becoming an integral part of the Cal Lutheran and Thousand Oaks communities as we establish our roots in Southern California.
According to Klein, the Rams will pay for the necessary improvements to the campus, which will include the installation of two practice fields, modular buildings for use as team offices and designated training areas and locker rooms.
The agreement will go into effect starting March 2017. This offseason, the Rams will be training in Oxnard, California, which is also where the Dallas Cowboys hold their spring practices. Klein added the team will then move to UC Irvine to avoid any conflicts with the Cowboys.
The MMQB’s Robert Klemko detailed the numerous ongoing behind-the-scenes machinations following the Rams’ move to Los Angeles and the logistical issues it presents for the players:
In July, players will move 105 miles south from Oxnard to Irvine (likely) for summer training camp. When camp breaks, they’ll go 84 miles north to Thousand Oaks, to the Rams’ in-season practice facility and offices. On game days players will commute 43 miles east to the [Los Angeles Memorial] Coliseum, just south of downtown. By the time a sense of routine is established, the Rams will play a “home game” in London on Oct. 23 against the Giants. That’s a nice little commute of 5,437 miles, each way.
The players were advised, in no uncertain terms, to find housing arrangements near Thousand Oaks and the campus of Cal Lutheran, where the team will be headquartered for the next three regular seasons.
The MMQB also shared photos of team employees unpacking equipment in Oxnard:
In a January interview with Klein, Rams general manager Les Snead was unable to provide any specifics regarding a more permanent plan for a training camp location.
At least locking in Cal Lutheran as their future temporary home provides the Rams with some level of stability, and it will also allow them to start focusing more on their $2.6 billion stadium in Inglewood, California, which is set to be completed in 2019.
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