Carolina Panthers training camp

The NFL Carolina Panthers have trained at Wofford College in Spartanburg every summer since 1995, their inaugural season. Sports Illustrated ranked Wofford’s facilities in the top five in the league for fan friendliness, the school's 60,000-square-foot Richardson Physical Activities Building providing state of the art training facilities.

Thursday marked the start of the Carolina Panthers 2016 training camp, presented by Lowe's. Running through August 16^th, all training camp practices are free and open to the public. For times and a promotion schedule, see the Panther’s website.

There was a kickoff party yesterday to celebrate the start of training camp, complete with face painting, food, games and promotions. The celebration started at 4, fans lined up outside the gates to get the best seats. As practice only started at 6:30 (with cheerleaders, the TopCats, Sir Purr and PurrCussion taking the field around 6pm), we had time to wander around the stadium. Eventually we entered and found seats, and it was a good thing there were bleachers in the shade; we saw at least one woman taken away on a stretcher, possibly a victim of heat stroke.

the cheerleaders take the field!

The Carolina Panthers are headquartered in the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, and are one of only a few NFL teams to own the stadium they play in. During the first season they played home games at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, which might explain what makes the Panthers a Carolina – North and South – team in the eyes of its fans.

With strong playoff showings in recent years (including a Super Bowl appearance against the Broncos earlier this year), the Panthers have a solid fan base with high hopes for the season. When quarterback Cam Newton took the field for practice, the crowd roared its approval in welcome.... It’s hard not to join in the excitement as the Super Bowl hopefuls approach the beginning of the 2016-17 season.

Good luck Panthers! Keep pounding!!!

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If you’re planning on attending one of the training camps in the coming weeks, make sure you check the website for more information and a parking map. Certain streets are closed to private vehicles and the volume of fan traffic can be overwhelming, so give yourself plenty of time to get situated, and take advantage of the fan shuttles & free parking lots. Based on our experience, we would suggest to bring sunscreen and a water bottle in addition to a marker and something to sign; players give autographs for fans at the conclusion of training camp practices.