When ESPN analyst Steffi Sorensen faced back-to-back crises when losing a loved one and having multiple family members hospitalized in the same year, she turned to the one place she knew she could: the gym.
“Fitness was something I could rely on,” she said. “It saved my life. I want other people to have that too.”
That belief — forged through personal grief, mental health struggles and a lifetime in athletics — now shapes the foundation of Dark Horse, a 20,000-square-foot wellness and training facility Sorensen plans to build in St. Johns County.
The project, first reported by the Jacksonville Daily Record, is proposed for 11.8 acres off Greenbriar Road and will combine high-performance training with a holistic approach to wellness — including sunlight and barefoot training, sports-specific coaching, mental recovery space and on-site child care.
“I always struggled with anxiety,” she said, “and fitness was something I could rely on. When I moved back here a few years ago, I kept thinking — where do people work out? Where’s that space for everyone?”
The property, owned by the Chris R. Sorensen Family Trust since it was purchased for $1.5 million in 2022, still requires county rezoning approvals, but Sorensen hopes to open within 18-24 months of getting the green light.
From walk-on to ESPN — and back home
Sorensen grew up in St. Johns County and played basketball for the University of Florida. Later, she was rejected from UF’s broadcast program but still went on to build a successful career in sports broadcasting, now serving as a prominent analyst for ESPN’s NCAA women’s basketball coverage.
“I walked on at UF after being told I’d never play — I started every game,” she said. “I didn’t get into broadcast school at UF so I thought I’d never be on TV — and now I’ve been on TV for over a decade.
That spirit of persistence is what inspired the new gym’s name: Dark Horse.
“It felt like I’d defied a lot of odds too,” she said. “Maybe people who want to defy their own odds can feel that when they walk in. Every year on air we get asked, ‘Who’s your dark horse to win it all?’ And I just kept coming back to that idea. I thought Dark Horse seems like the perfect fit after I’d been through all that hell.”
More than just a gym
Sorensen emphasizes that Dark Horse is meant to be more than a place to lift weights.
“We’ve got town centers where you can buy everything, but we haven’t done that with health and wellness yet,” she said. “Why not do that under one umbrella?”
Plans for the facility include recovery rooms, meditation spaces, small-group classes, two floors of specialized equipment and athlete training programs. Sorensen is working with Southeast Engineering Group, The Angelo Group as general contractor and a team of local architects — all of whom, she said, understand the need for care and preservation in a growing community.
“There’s a fear of things being just totally gutted out here,” she said. “I’m from here, I get it. I’ve seen the changes. That’s why it’s been so important to me and my team to do this right.”
Only about 3 of the 11.8 acres will be developed for this facility, she said, which allows for natural buffers and a more private, peaceful experience — something that mattered deeply to her during her own healing process.
A personal risk with family roots
Although the property is owned by the trust set up by Sorensen’s father, Chris Sorensen, co-founder of Firehouse Subs, this venture has been a personal leap of faith, even if it shares the entrepreneurial DNA of her family.
“My uncle and my dad built something people believed in,” Sorensen said. “It’s my turn to take a risk. It feels scary at times, but having seen the feedback and community embracing that [with my family] was really eye-opening for me.”
She hopes to employ 15 to 25 people, including local high school students, and keep the facility independently run.
“People out here want to support local. They don’t want more chains,” she said. “I’m optimistic that the community will support it. There is a lot of mystery around it right now because people can’t see it yet … but I think Dark Horse can serve more people [and] meet more needs. We’re trying to build something that really belongs here.”
As the county continues reviewing zoning and site plans, Sorensen says she’s focused on patience and quality over speed.
“Of course I wish we could build it tomorrow — I get asked about it every time I go to Publix,” she laughed. “But I’ve spent the past year making sure we get this right. I live here. I know what’s going to fly and what’s not.”
For Sorensen, this gym isn’t just a business or a passion project. It’s a piece of her healing, and that’s something she said she hopes it can be for others, too.
“I’m trying to add value and things that can really reshape our community,” she said. “I think that’s why it gets me going and why I get excited about this opportunity.”
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: ‘It saved my life’: ESPN’s Steffi Sorensen plans local gym to heal more than muscles
Reporting by Alexandria Mansfield, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
