The men’s national football team from Panama will soon be arriving at the Nottawasaga Resort in Alliston to prepare for the upcoming World Cup. The team will arrive June 7 and will spend three weeks practicing on the local fields that have been specially made for the team. A special blend of Kentucky blue grass is required for all FIFA fields. “Being chosen as the only resort in Canada to actually host and be a base camp for FIFA for Panama is a total honour, an absolute honour,” says Dino Biffis, vice-president of Nottawasaga Resort. This is not the first time the resort has been selected by another country as a training facility. Germany practiced at the Nottawasaga Resort in 1994 prior to the World Cup held in the U.S. The resort had to meet certain and specific requirements in order to host the team from Panama this time around. New grass had to be shipped in from the Hamilton area. So far so good, according to staff. “Extremely happy with the time frame we had to put this sod in and with four weeks of growth seams are hidden now and the roots have taken root and the field looks really good,” says Rocco Lombardi, vice-president of Nottawasaga Resort. Ironically, the Nottawasaga Resort was once home to a sod business. This month, it will be home to the World Cup club with the World Cup just over a week away. FIFA first booked the local resort seven years ago. “The pitch went under a huge renovation late this fall and throughout the winter, we worked on the field to get it to the stage it needs to be to meet the FIFA specs that they are looking for,” says Biffis. To help get fans closer to Team Panama, the Town of New Tecumseth will hold an online registration for a limited amount of tickets for fans to watch a practice up close. “June 2 at 2 p.m. we are going to do a lottery and we’re going to give access to residents only of New Tecumseth, of course, and you’ll be able to watch the Panama team,” says New Tecumseth Mayor Richard Norcross. To enter the lottery, go to the Town’s website. With the pitch in place, all it needs now is a little bit of water and some time. Team Panama is expected to arrive at the resort on June 7 and will be there for about three weeks.
