Who We Are
The team & the story behind TG Sports Center
There are lots of places in central Ohio you can rent for sports training. Facilities inside and outside the 270 outerbelt. Some are affordable. And some, well, aren’t. It’s understandable to think of TG Sports Center as just another one of those facilities. Another athletic complex, featuring four walls, some artificial turf, and an hourly rental fee.
But TG Sports Center is different. We didn’t build it to make money, we built it to save money.
TG Sports Center was the dream of Martin Ramirez, el padre of the Latino youth soccer community in central Ohio. In 2013, Coach Martin began building a soccer club for Hispanic young people designed to be affordable and accessible. And when we say affordable what we actually mean is FREE. For many Latino young people in central Ohio, travel soccer fees of up to $1,500 per season was unaffordable. So, Coach Martin decided to start a club that would charge nothing. And Galacticos FC was born.
Seven years later, the first group of Galacticos boys—2001s and 2002s—just graduated from high school, with two landing college soccer scholarships, one in NCAA Division 2 and another in NAIA. Countless others were recruited, with many opting to forego college to stay home and help support their families. Those boys never paid any fees until just a few years ago, and even then, $800 was the most any player paid. Many continued to play for nothing, the beneficiaries of the generosity of Galacticos’ coaches and staff.
But charging just $800 per season makes renting good facilities difficult, if not impossible. You can’t pay $200 per hour for indoor training time while also keeping costs accessible for players and their families. So, in 2019, a new dream was born: TG Sports Center.
A Fútbol Community
But before we talk about that new dream, let’s have a brief history and vocabulary lesson.
Galacticos are superstars. The name is borrowed from the so-called Galacticos era at Real Madrid, the famed Spanish La Liga club. The Galacticos inspired Coach Martin to develop young superstars, and more important, young men. To provide aspiring Latino futbolers a place to call home, to develop and grow, and to learn the unique Spanish tiqui-taca style of play characterized by Barcelona and the Mexican national team (El Tri), as well as other Central and South American clubs. Most of all, Coach Martin envisioned a community, a place where players would feel like familia. Galacticos has become that place.
It also has become one of Ohio’s best soccer clubs. Galacticos teams have won the President’s Cup, a variety of league titles, many tournaments throughout Ohio and the Midwest, and the President’s Cup. Its teams have consistently been rated in the top 10 or 20 in their age groups in the state. Several Galacticos players also have competed in the Super Y Nationals in Florida, and the club recently joined the National Premier League’s Great Lakes Alliance.
Building a new home
As Galacticos has grown, so have its competitive needs. In the past few years, it’s become difficult for the team to compete at the highest levels without access to quality training space. But providing players with affordable training meant quality training space was unattainable. Galacticos often found itself playing outside on fields with poor conditions or inside gymnasiums during the winter. In 2019, a plan was hatched: Coach Martin, whose day job is carpentry and contracting, decided to build and develop TG Sports Center for Galacticos’ teams to have their own home. And when Galacticos teams aren’t training, the space is available to other soccer clubs, baseball and softball teams, field hockey and lacrosse programs, and any others who need quality, affordable space.
For almost a decade, Galacticos FC has worked to bring community to the soccer pitch. Now, it’s proud to bring that same sense of familia to our all-new sports center.