The Cocoa Expo Sports Center is a multi-sport complex located in Cocoa, Florida, where athletes of all level can practice and play in facilities fit for the pros and truly improve their ability to compete in the game and move to the next level. The recently renovated Cocoa Expo has:
- Eleven (11) lighted NCAA baseball fields
- Including a newly renovated 5,000-seat MLB stadium with 50 ft Jumbotron scoreboard
- Eight (8) football / soccer / lacrosse fields
- A 35,000 square foot, $5 million training facility which includes:
- A 17,000 square foot indoor, multi-purpose field for football, soccer, or a baseball infield
- 14 indoor batting cages
- Including seven (7) ProBatter Video Pitching Simulators
- A 15,000 square foot weight room with free weights and training machines
- Onsite player suites
- A recreations hall with two (2) 32-foot HDTVs and six (6) 70-inch HDTVs
Cocoa Expo Sports Center will soon begin construction on a 100,000 square foot gymnasium that will have eleven (11) NBA / NCAA / FIBA-regulation hardwood basketball courts, which can be converted into fourteen (14) volleyball courts.
Video Cocoa Expo Sports Center
CES Academy
Cocoa Expo Sports Center is also creating a college sports preparatory academy, CES Academy. CES Academy is a sports academy and boarding school that will prepare its student-athletes to become successful, confident, and responsible individuals through athletics, academics, and character development.
History
Cocoa Expo Sports Center was originally built in 1964 by the city of Cocoa as the spring training home for Major League Baseball's Houston Astros (then the Colt 45's). The Houston Astros called the Cocoa Expo their Spring home for 21 seasons from 1964-1984.
It was purchased by private ownership in 1984 and turned into a center for amateur sports. The complex, consisting of 70 acres (28 ha), has the original 5,000 seat Cocoa Stadium and 6 additional baseball fields, four multi-purpose athletic fields, a 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) arena that can accommodate three basketball courts and four volleyball courts, a 100-room air-conditioned athletes dormitory, cafeteria and meeting space. The 40 acres (16 ha) main section of the property is valued at $3.5 million according to the county appraiser's records.
The center again hosted Major League Baseball in the spring of 1993 when the Florida Marlins played their inaugural spring training season games in Cocoa Stadium. In addition to Major League Baseball, the complex has been home to the Joe Brinkman Umpire School, Clint Hurdle's Big League Experience Camp, youth baseball, soccer, basketball and volleyball tournaments and is the home field for the Cocoa Expos professional women's soccer team.
The center went into receivership in 2011. The state fair, which had been held there for a number of years, moved to another Brevard site.
In the Summer of 2012, with a great deal of support from private sports investors, the Cocoa Expo Sports Center is received a long-overdue renovation of the entire complex. From the stadium and baseball fields to the dorms and indoor arena, the complex has received a $40 Million overhaul and is again known as one of the premier sports complexes in the entire country.
Maps Cocoa Expo Sports Center
References
External links
- Cocoa Expo Sports Center
- Digital Ballparks: Cocoa Expo Stadium
Source of article : Wikipedia
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