Whitecaps wary of precarious balance inside and outside of Orlando’s bubble
It takes only a single prick to burst a bubble.
The Vancouver Whitecaps head to Orlando next week hoping their self-isolation bubble and safety protocols will protect them from the coronavirus pandemic raging in Florida, which has seen massive spikes in the number of cases and percentage of positive tests.
The women’s pro team in that city, the Orlando Pride, learned this lesson when six players and staffers tested positive for COVID-19 last week, forcing the squad to pull out of the National Women’s Soccer League’s return-to-play Challenge Cup tournament.
The Caps distributed a Major League Soccer handbook to their players detailing the league’s steps to protect them in Florida, and also had team physician Dr. Jim Bovard give a presentation on Wednesday to address concerns.
No Whitecaps have tested positive for COVID -19, and the players are keenly aware of the importance of following the health guidelines, especially after Yordy Reyna and Jasser Khmiri were spotted on a newscast playing pickup soccer in a Vancouver park in May.
“What you’re stating is our facts. The numbers are real and … it’s not a rumour. It’s out there and it’s real,” coach Marc Dos Santos told reporters on Wednesday when asked about Florida’s jump in COVID-19 numbers. “The pandemic is real. I would be lying to you if (I said) we don’t talk about it between staff. Some players have also shown concerns on the rise of the virus.
“Dr. Bovard was also here with us, explaining (safety measures) to all the team and players, and we feel that the setup that is going to be in Orlando and Disney allows us to go there feeling safe.”
The Whitecaps came into the season with the youngest roster in MLS, with an average age of 24.1.
Keeping such a young squad engaged and focused inside a biodome setup, with no trips allowed off the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Disney during their duration there, will be challenging for Dos Santos and his staff.
It was a mix of boredom and lack of education on the dangers of COVID-19 that led the two
Whitecaps to break isolation last month — Reyna and Khmiri were fined and subsequently went into an enforced two-week quarantine.
The focus, besides self-discipline, will now be on opponents such as Seattle, Dallas and San Jose in Group B.
“We’re also talking with the performance team and everybody involved in the club, what sort of activities can we do outside soccer, to keep the guys in a clean mindset, and also with that freedom of life and not always being only home,” said Dos Santos.
“We have to be smart how we manage the different activities. We educate them on a lot of things on how they can do things, how it only takes one of them to be irresponsible to put the team in a bad spot.”
Figuring out how to break a boring routine — and how to figure out a good one — comes with the wrinkle of kicking off all three round robin games at 10:30 p.m. ET. It works well for fans locally, but it has complications for the players beyond just the broadcast schedule.
“We’re going to have to prepare the players to live a different type of life,” said Dos Santos. “When it comes to sleeping until later. Having a later breakfast, a later lunch, or later dinner, and later pre-game match meal. Their life changes when you play at 10:30 p.m., and most of our training sessions are also going to be at night.
“So that’s going to be a kind of change for all of us. ... I think all this tournament is going to be about adaptation, about mindset, about being ready to go to a place that might be very uncomfortable.
“It’s a totally different temperature, even at 10:30 at night. It’s very humid, very hot still, chances of thunderstorms all the time and heavy rain — it’s just the reality of Florida in those months.
Dos Santos added: “There’s going to be a lot of thunderstorms and rain … so I hope there’s a plan in place. I hope we’re not playing at 2 a.m. (because) I may I have a glass of scotch in my hand during the game.”
The Caps coach also admitted he wasn’t sure how this grand experiment called the MLS is Back Tournament would work out.
“The first thing to say is, I can’t answer this question like an expert. And if you have coaches that do that, good for them, but none of the coaches (I know) have went through an experience like that,” Dos Santos said.
“It’s going to be new to everyone. I know I’m going to learn a lot by being there, and I know I’m gonna adapt a lot to being there.
“This is new for all of us. It’s new in the way you guys do media, it’s new in the way we coaches have to adapt in a competition that is in a bubble with every team and with a virus that is peaking I would say in the state of Florida.
“Everyone I speak to, they have the same concerns, the same challenges. This is going to be a tournament for people who are willing to pay a price. The teams that see every tough moment for growth and become stronger with it, are the ones that will have a better chance.”