Dynamo, Dash to work out in limited way
Major League Soccer took a step toward resuming its season after the league announced that players can use outdoor team training fields for individual workouts starting on Wednesday.
“Obviously, I am very excited to be able to provide the players with a controlled and safe environment that gets us one step closer to getting back to playing,” Dynamo coach Tab Ramos said.
“This is not a mandatory workout for players, but…I am sure they will all choose to come in. It is very important for us to get started and to be able to see each other on the field, although everybody will be far away, which will be strange, but what has not been strange so far? So, this is just another level of strange that we have to deal with.”
Ramos has tried to institute team sessions from a distance during the hiatus, which came in response to the spread of the coronavirus. Ironically, he feels that distance has helped to unify the team.
“For us to have all the meetings that we have had on Microsoft Teams, which is kind of like Zoom, it has really brought us together,” Ramos said. “We have gotten to know a lot about the players, their stories, where they come from, what they do, how they feel, and how they see the game.”
NWSL also planning to return to fields
On Monday, the National Women’s Soccer League permitted its clubs to use outdoor team training fields for individual workouts starting on Wednesday as well.
“We are really pleased, and it has been a long layoff,” Dash coach James Clarkson said. “The league did a good job of setting up the protocol, and I think as long as we follow the guidelines we can hopefully progress this and hopefully get to a stage where not too far away we are doing team training.”
Clarkson expects all of Houston’s players to participate in the voluntary opportunities, which will come almost two weeks after the intended start to the
NWSL season in late April.
When they reconvene, Clarkson wants to build on players’ home workouts and gradually intensify those sessions ahead of formal team training and the eventual start of the season. If the season does start this summer, player fitness will remain a point of concern throughout the year.
“We do not know what our start date will be,” he said. “I know the NWSL wants to finish the league at the same time as they would have done normally (in October), so they are not planning to extend it and that may well mean mid-week games. We may end up playing twice a week, perhaps every week, and that is where the size of the roster and maintaining it becomes really important.”
Dynamo players helping homelands
As a former captain for El Salvador’s national team, Dynamo midfielder Darwin Ceren wanted to give back to those who have supported him and his teams back home. He connected with a group of friends and together, they raised $5,700 to donate to families in El Salvador. Ceren isn’t alone.
A handful of Dynamo players have raised money to help families grappling with the financial strain brought about by the restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19.
One donated close to $1,000 to support residents from Honduras. Another is helping 200 Hondurans pay for groceries and toiletries. Defender Alejandro Fuenmayor, who is Venezuelan, is sponsoring 15 residents in Katy, which is known to have a sizable Venezuelan population.
“In a small country, people do not have too many options,” Ceren said. “The idea was to do something to bring funds to some people.”