Achieving athletic excellence requires physical and mental commitment, discipline, and resilience — as well as a place to hone peak performance in and out of season. Our readers say Valley Sports Academy (Chippewa Falls) deserves the gold for providing an elite sports training facility for hockey, baseball, soccer, softball, and more. Also stepping proudly to the medal stand is the L.E. Phillips YMCA Sports Center, home to an array of youth and adult sports, and the Eau Claire Sports Warehouse, which offers training and leagues for basketball, baseball, volleyball, softball, and beyond. —Tom Giffey