TAMPA, Fla., July 14, 2026—The Tampa Training Ground, which is dedicated to affordable and accessible soccer training for youths and adults, has become a sponsor of the Tampa Bay Soccer Hall of Fame.
“I think this is a natural partnership,’’ said Mike Jerman, co-founder of The Tampa Training Ground. “We’re excited about what the Tampa Bay Soccer Hall of Fame is offering to our community. It’s important to honor the past and bring it forward into the present, where we can all benefit. The bottom line is I think both organizations are looking to improve soccer in the Tampa Bay area and that’s a great thing to get behind.’’
Jerman said The Tampa Training Ground (6621 Memorial Highway) is a “club-neutral’’ training facility with indoor and outdoor fields that offers monthly family memberships for $100. Players are encouraged to hold pickup games and train year-round, particularly when the hot, sticky, and rainy weather has everyone scurrying for an indoor facility.
Camps are also offered and scheduled around “real parent working hours”, making for reasonable drop-off and pick-up plans. There’s soccer, of course, but also futsal; a fast-paced variant of soccer played on a hard, basketball-sized court without walls or boards.
“At times, soccer for kids in this country gets ridiculously toxic and expensive,’’ said Jerman, a former Air Force captain and University of Minnesota track and field athlete who was once in a national-team soccer feeder program. “Soccer is two feet and a ball, right? It should be accessible to anyone, no matter how much money you have. That’s our idea, and we also have coaching supervision, so we want people to learn and grow. How can America improve its soccer without the sport being accessible? The whole idea is making soccer into something even better.’’
That’s also the goal for the TBSHOF, which began in 2025. It’s dedicated to honoring Tampa Bay’s soccer history while promoting and highlighting the game. The TBSHOF will induct its second Hall of Fame class on Thursday, Aug. 13, during a dinner at Tampa’s Higgins Hall on the campus of St. Lawrence Catholic Church. Last year’s inaugural induction dinner was sold out and set in motion for the TBSHOF’s mission of honoring the sport’s Tampa Bay legacy.
“It’s exciting to have everyone under one roof to honor and celebrate the game,’’ Jerman said. “We’re looking forward to being a part of it.’’
