Hall of Fame NBA player Shaquille O’Neal breaks ground on Las Vegas youth sports complex

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – Hall of Fame NBA player Shaquille O’Neal broke ground on a youth sports complex in the northeast Las Vegas valley Friday.

The youth complex will feature a football field from the Las Vegas Raiders, a boxing and MMA gym from UFC, youth support services from the Boys and Girls Club of Southern Nevada (BGCSNV), and more.

Andy Bischel, president and CEO of BGCSNV, said the area where the complex will be, near the corner of Lamb and Lake Mead Boulevards, needs the resources.

“It’s kind of a service desert,” he said.

Shaquille O’Neal, who has lived in Las Vegas for decades, is working to change that reality.

“If every big-time person just took care of where they lived at, the world would be a better place,” O’Neal said.

The complex will also feature the first-ever alumni center for Communities In Schools, an organization that Las Vegas icon Elaine Wynn played a major part in.
Hall of Fame NBA player Shaquille O’Neal broke ground on a youth sports complex in the northeast Las Vegas valley Friday. (KLAS)
“She was the best, she was a visionary, she was a dreamer such as myself, and I was lucky to be able to call her a friend and a mentor,” O’Neal said.

Tami Hance-Leher, CEO and state director for Communities in Schools Nevada, said the alumni center will be a game-changer for young people who graduate through the program.

“We know that their barriers don’t just magically disappear, so in this alumni center. We’re going to help them with job placement. We’re going to help them stay in school. We’re going to help them with financial literacy,” Hance-Leher said.

The complex is planned to open in late 2026.