Driving along Highway 89 about an hour north of Toronto, it wouldn’t be hard to spot construction happening at Nottawasaga Resort & Conference Centre. For the first time since 1994, the resort will be the home base for a men’s FIFA World Cup team, Panama. Sylvia Biffis, director of sales at Nottawasaga Resort & Conference Centre, said they are ready to welcome a world class team. “This is our primary pitch that we’re getting ready for the FIFA base camp, and super excited to finally get the grass down,” said Biffis. The field has been under construction since November and is the only basecamp in Canada where the team can walk from their hotel to a field. “We are the home away from home for any team, so they have the accommodation, they have their fields that they just walk up to, which is very important for them,” said Biffis. “So, they don’t need to travel anywhere, gyms onsite, food and beverage, so we take care of them.” Another way they are taking of the team is providing privacy while they train. “They are practicing for the World Cup, so it is private, it’s fenced off, and It is not open to viewers or the community in general,” said Biffis. The Pitch: Every blade of grass, every spec of dirt will replicate the fields featured throughout the tournament including the fields in Toronto and Vancouver. Rocco Lombardi is the vice president Cable Bridge Enterprises and said the field has been created and built to FIFA standards. “There’s anywhere from eight inches to 18 inches of new soil to balance out the grade of the field, but we’re really, really happy because with laser grading,” said Lombardi. “We’re within about two millimeters across this whole surface and, we have the perfect pitch across the field.” Dino Biffis, vice president at Nottawasaga Resort & Conference Centre, said months of preparation has seen the new soccer field slowly take its shape. “It has been a monumental job to do this,” said Dino Biffis. “Take off topsoil that we’ve had on the field, regrade the field, install underground drainage in the field, update our sprinkler system for the field, regrade the field again to a specific percentage slope that FIFA was looking for to match their criteria.” The grass used on the field also endorsed by FIFA. “The ultimate sports turf from Green Horizons, which is a unique blend of Kentucky bluegrass that has proprietary mixes and It’s consistent to what is being used across all of the soccer fields in North America,” said Lombardi. Nottawasaga’s strong connection to soccer: Nottawasaga Resort & Conference Centre has a rich history connected to the sport. In 1994, the resort hosted Team Germany as they prepared for the World Cup. “When the Germans were here back in 94, they said this field was as good as any field that they’ve ever played on any World Cup stage,” said Dino Biffis. “The only thing that’s missing is the stands with 100,000 people all around them.” Since then, the resort has hosted men’s and woman’s national teams as well as tier one soccer teams from around the world including the American Woman’s national team in 2013. “I still feel the hair on the back of my neck go up,” said Dino Biffis. “It’s a very, very special time and it’s an honor to be able to do that and partner with FIFA, partner with Canada Soccer and have Team Panama be here with us as their official base camp.” The creation of the pitch is a full circle moment for the Biffis family - the pitch being built on the same plot of land their family used to grow and sell sod on. “Here we are on the same field where the first nursery sod farm was in Ontario and now, we brought it up to a FIFA standard, and we’re going to have a world cup team here,” said Peter Biffis, vice president. Panama is expected to arrive at the Nottawasaga basecamp in early June and begin preparing for their first World Cup match on June 19th against Ghana in Toronto.
