Partnering With Atlanta United

Starting in 2017, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta formed a relationship with Atlanta United, the city’s Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise, to serve as the club’s official pediatric healthcare system and sports medicine program of the Atlanta United. In addition to treating the Atlanta United’s elite athletes on the field, Children’s is the naming partner of the team’s Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground.

Children’s is home to Georgia's only nationally ranked pediatric orthopedics and sports medicine program* for kids and teens. Our program uses leading-edge research to keep growing athletes, from pre-teens to young adults, in top physical shape. Children’s and Atlanta United are committed to providing elite athletes the highest level of care on and off the field.

*U.S. News & World Report, 2021-22

Children’s provides clinical oversight and services to the Atlanta United Academy teams. Our skilled team includes certified athletic trainers and Training Ground Medical Director S. Clifton Willimon, MD, a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon at Children’s. Dr. Willimon acts as team physician to the Atlanta United Academy teams by assessing and addressing players’ injuries.

In addition to overseeing day-to-day sports medicine operations:

• Our athletic trainers are the first to respond when players have a sports-related injury or illness, from fractures to cramps, concussions and emergency injuries.
• Our nationally ranked team, which is specially trained to work with pediatric patients, cares for players through injury and rehabilitation, helping them get back on the field as quickly and safely as possible.
• We perform baseline sports physicals for every Academy team player, and connect them to the Children’s System so that they can work closely with our specialists in other clinical areas like cardiology and pulmonology, if needed.

The Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground is a state-of-the-art facility located in Marietta, Ga., and home to Atlanta United players and staff. The 33-acre site features a 30,000-square-foot headquarter building and six full-size fields, all designed to host training sessions, tournaments and visiting club teams. The property also includes a full-service kitchen and dining room, a field used for training sessions and tournaments with a 2,500-seat stand and viewing pavilion, locker rooms, a gym and sports science facilities. The Training Ground focuses on the performance, nutrition, fitness and rehabilitation of the professional organization’s First and Academy teams.