All,
One of the main goals of our visit was to see the progress our good friends from Allrise Capital have made on the stadium and the women’s soccer team they own here in Odesa.
They acquired this stadium, built 15 years ago, about 5 years ago, just before Covid hit, which prohibited any games from being played. Then, 3 years ago, the Russian invasion did the same.
So, since they acquired this stadium, they haven’t had any paying fans, which is a challenging financial situation, as you can well imagine.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chornomorets_Stadium
Nonetheless, they have kept their focus (and invested their money) into improving the facility (it’s called a stadium, but trust me, inside it is more like a palace–Beautiful!) and they anxiously await the time when life here gets back to normal and the games, concerts and other activities can begin again.
The stadium also has a beautiful hotel, with 79 rooms, conference rooms, an incredible gym, and a pool. Plus, their women’s soccer team, the Seasters, has become one of the top teams in the country, bringing together young women from across Ukraine as well as from Africa and South America.
And Allrise is further investing in soccer training schools in Ukraine, with 11 of them now, to help create a feeder program that can make the Seasters even more competitive worldwide. This weekend, we will attend the opening ceremony of their newest women’s soccer training school in Chornomorsk, Erie’s sister city.
I’m excited.
Here’s the stadium
The view from the stands
View from the field
Sasha
Mikhail in front of the team bus. It’s amazing how much the bus driver looked like me. Even had a Buffalo Bills cap!
The stadium is right next to the Port of Odesa. It will be one of the crown jewels of Ukraine in the city that will fuel Ukraine’s economic connection with the rest of the world. We are terrifically proud to be a very small part of this. Thanks to Mikhail and Allrise for the opportunity.
Onward!