{"id":2382,"date":"2026-06-10T11:03:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T11:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=2382"},"modified":"2026-06-10T11:03:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T11:03:19","slug":"why-is-france-practicing-at-bentley-university-perfect-grass-and-complete-privacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=2382","title":{"rendered":"Why is France practicing at Bentley University? Perfect grass and complete privacy."},"content":{"rendered":"
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WALTHAM \u2014 When it came to choosing where to train during its expected lengthy World Cup run, France needed more than a perfect soccer field and modern training facility.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more We are Boston, so can we stop worrying and just enjoy the World Cup? Doubt it.<\/a><\/p>\n

It needed privacy, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

A tiny corner of the Bentley University campus in this relatively sleepy town offered everything France needed as it begins its residency on Thursday.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

A quick police-escorted bus ride from the team\u2019s tony Back Bay hotel, the temporary home of Les Bleus is enclosed almost entirely by a new 8-foot high, black-scrimmed fence and a ring of towering trees that is nearly uninterrupted by a single building.<\/span><\/p>\n

An impeccably mowed and plush soccer field sits next to a baseball diamond\u2019s outfield where the goalies will practice.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both are steps from the school\u2019s hockey arena, where the team will use its training areas and locker rooms. A sign reading \u201cFiers detre Bleus\u201d (proud to be blue) with a crowing Gallic rooster, the country\u2019s national symbol, is plastered outside the building.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bentley is \u201cnot like many campuses and [France was] definitely worried about being able to do their work without worrying about anything around them,\u201d said Vaughn Williams, Bentley\u2019s director of athletics, on Tuesday. \u201cWaltham\u2019s a great community. They\u2019re going to let us do our thing, we\u2019re going to do our thing, and they\u2019re great partners with us, so I think they\u2019ve provided all the things that France wanted that could help them train appropriately.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Related: <\/span><\/span>Why these eight teams can win the World Cup (and why they won\u2019t)<\/div>\n

An invite-only practice with area youth soccer players on Friday is the closest any member of the public is going to get to lay eyes on Les Bleus.<\/span><\/p>\n

More than a hundred members of the French and international media who will be covering the team will be shepherded from their nearby media center for 15 minutes of visitation rights to the team\u2019s daily practices.<\/span><\/p>\n

Besides needing credentials, any other visitor to the area will need to go through metal detectors. <\/span><\/p>\n

The practice area is under a no-fly zone that\u2019s under 24-hour security monitoring with beefed-up staffing and video cams, bomb-sniffing dogs will comb the area before each practice, and anti-drone equipment sits at the ready.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond keeping the team safe, the tight lid is meant to take espionage attempts into the French team\u2019s strategy and fitness out of any unsavory actor\u2019s equation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAny World Cup team wants to practice in an environment conducive to no interruptions, no visibility, they want to do anything that they do behind a closed door, it\u2019s no different than any basketball or football team, American football team, that would want to have a closed practice,\u201d said Williams. \u201cWe provided that, which is a hard thing to do, obviously, in the States.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When representatives of the team first scouted the area over the winter, Bentley officials had to reassure them that the bare-limbed trees would fill out, and be privacy-ready, by June, said Williams.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Mass. House readies vote on bill aimed at curbing book bans in libraries<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: <\/span><\/span>Here are nine underdog teams to root for in the World Cup<\/div>\n

Bentley had to be won over, said Williams, before deciding it would bear the time, energy, and expense to make the adjustments France sought.<\/span><\/p>\n

And while Williams did not disclose the terms of the contract it and FIFA hammered out with France in late March, he said it\u2019s worth it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a moneymaker, but it is a net positive, we\u2019ll make a little money,\u201d said Williams. \u201cBut we\u2019re not using any of the university money on this endeavor.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Four official goals shipped from France are already set up, with the weight room inside the arena containing a few cardio and other equipment the strength and conditioning crew also brought over. The French will use their own nutrition drinks and snacks on campus but will stick to the Four Seasons for their meals. <\/span><\/p>\n

Any injured players will join the goalkeepers on the baseball outfield for workouts. <\/span><\/p>\n

The pitch, one of the few top-notch, all-grass fields in the area and central to France\u2019s plans, will be cut every day to the same .86-inch height FIFA requires in all 16 host venues, with the same approximately 10-foot-wide alternating bent-grass swaths that give the field a striped look.<\/span><\/p>\n

The field will be watered before and during breaks in the team\u2019s practices to simulate game conditions in how the players plant and move their feet, as well as ball-passing speed and consistency.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because the Bentley soccer team played deep into the season, the grass at midfield and in front of each goal was beat up entering the winter, said Ryan Gaffey, director of facilities services. <\/span><\/p>\n

Combined with a cold, wet spring, the growing season started late.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were getting a little nervous with the growth. It was really, really slow,\u201d said Gaffey.<\/span><\/p>\n

But three sweeps of seeding have taken hold, and a warm and sunny day such as Tuesday was making Gaffey happy because he knew it would make the French team happy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Only the prospect of a rainy summer is causing him stress.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWarm and dry is fine, this is perfect, we could have this every day,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re ready to go.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more The state of Team USA entering the World Cup: Americans should advance, but how far?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bentley had to be won over, said Williams, before deciding it would bear the time, energy, and expense to make the adjustments France sought.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy is France practicing at Bentley University? 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