A family-owned resort about an hour outside Toronto is preparing to become an official FIFA World Cup practice facility and base camp for Team Panama during the two thousand and twenty-six tournament. The Nottawasaga Resort will host the Central American squad throughout their World Cup campaign in Canada.
The story behind the resort's selection is one of sporting heritage spanning decades. Lou Biffus, the resort's founder, came to Canada from Italy with a deep passion for soccer. Before building the resort, the Biffus family operated one of the very first nursery-grown sod farms in Ontario on the same land.
On that sod farm, Lou Biffus built a soccer pitch in the nineteen sixties. The quality of the playing surface soon attracted attention from the football world. Ahead of the nineteen ninety-four World Cup, reigning champions Germany chose Nottawasaga as their practice base, and other national teams have followed since.
FIFA selected the resort in part because of the continuity of grass quality across World Cup venues. The organisation wanted the same sort of grass in different locations, whether on a practice surface or at Toronto's match stadium. The Nottawasaga pitch meets this exacting standard.
For Dino Biffus, Lou's son and current operator, hosting the World Cup represents the fulfilment of his father's legacy. We wish he could be here to see this all come together, he told CBC News. It is a moment in time that continues on his legacy and what he helped put in place.
The local community is embracing the excitement. Limited tickets will be made available for nearby residents to come and watch Panama train, creating a unique opportunity for fans to get close to World Cup participants in an intimate setting far removed from the intensity of match-day stadiums.
The selection of Nottawasaga marks an iconic moment in Canadian sports history. As Canada hosts the men's FIFA World Cup for the first time, the resort's journey from Italian immigrant's sod farm to global football stage encapsulates the multicultural sporting story that defines the country.