Rams to practice at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks
The Los Angeles Rams will call Thousand Oaks home for at least the next two years.
The Rams and California Lutheran University announced an agreement March 30 for the Rams to build two practice fields, a paved parking lot and temporary modular offices containing training areas and locker rooms. The facilities will be built on a mostly vacant northwest corner of the Thousand Oaks campus, not far from William Rolland Stadium and several academic halls.
The Rams will practice at their temporary facilities in Thousand Oaks for at least two years while a $2.6 billion stadium is built near The Forum in Inglewood. Construction of that stadium and other permanent practice facilities for the Rams is expected to take about three years. During that time the Rams will play home games at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
Temporary facilities on the Cal Lutheran campus will house about 130 athletes, coaches, trainers and staff members. Regular season practices will be held from September through January each year. Off-season activities and spring practices will be held at the facilities starting in 2017.
All practices will be closed to the public, but the Rams plan to offer internships to Cal Lutheran students. The Rams said in a news release they look forward to becoming a big part of the region.
“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,” said Kevin Demoff, Los Angeles Rams chief operating officer, in a news release. “The Rams look forward to becoming part of the Cal Lutheran and Thousand Oaks communities as we establish our roots in Southern California.”
The university was also pumped about the partnership.
“The Rams are investing in a major remaining part of our plans for the north campus and providing internships in a variety of fields to our students,” said Cal Lutheran President Chris Kimball in a news release. “It will be a great partnership.”
Cal Lutheran had already planned to build practice football fields on the site. The city of Thousand Oaks already approved those plans and the Rams applied for permission to install the modular buildings around the site.
The Rams will remove the temporary buildings and fencing when the team leaves. The school said in the news release it will be able to use the fields and other infrastructure the Rams build for future athletics facilities.
The Rams previously announced they would hold spring practices in Oxnard from April 18 through June 17 at the River Ridge Fields near River Ridge Golf Course. The Dallas Cowboys currently host training camp at that site from July through August. The Cowboys also held training camp on the Cal Lutheran campus from 1963 to 1989.
• Contact Philip Joens at [email protected].
