Getting back into the saddle
Training sessions begin at team facility with extra safety protocols in place
As it looks toward a summer return, MLS allowed players to practice at their respective teams’ facilities starting Wednesday. The Dynamo returned to their practice fields at the Houston Sports Park on Thursday.
“It was great today being out there. You could tell that staff, players, everyone was happy,” coach Tab Ramos said. “It was nice to smell the grass in the morning after it was freshly cut. Those are the little things that sometimes you don't think you are going to miss, but you do miss. Then the obvious of just seeing the players, how happy they are to be on the field and be back in our environment.”
The Dynamo (0-1-1, 1 point) typically practice on a soccer field just behind the team facility.
But leaguewide precautions in response to the coronavirus pandemic prompted coaches to wear facemasks and players to spread out across the team’s other six fields, which normally host Dash and academy scrimmages. The Dash opened practice Wednesday.
“We wanted to get the players in a space where we could see them all,” Ramos said. “According to MLS protocol, each player can have a quarter of a field as the amount of space. So we had four players per field, and in two sessions we were able to see everyone.
“So each player comes in, and they have a warm up that we have already sent to them on an app the night before. They come in, and we put them through some physical work that has also been sent to them from the night before and then we give them 10-15 minutes at the end to do some technical work that they chose to do according to their position or that they want to do.”
Twenty-two of the team’s 27 players attended Thursday’s practice.
Absent were defenders Kiki Struna (knee) and Jose
Bizama (ankle), who are working out on their own as they recover from injuries. Defender Sam Junqua, goalkeeper Cody Cropper and midfielder Niko Hansen also missed practice as they quarantine from the team after recently returning to Houston.
“Those players are serving, as per the city of Houston, their five-day quarantine before they join the team,” Ramos said.
The league suspended the 2020 season two games into the year. It’s remained suspended since March 12.
As MLS plotted its return, Germany’s Bundesliga determined it will return May 16.
Ramos looks forward to the day MLS returns. Until then, progress is uplifting.
“Obviously every country is different, but just seeing that anyone is taking steps forward, I think it gives everyone a lift,” he said. “Whether you are in sports or out of sports, seeing that things are starting to open up and sort of heading back to normal, it is encouraging, and in particular for us in the soccer world seeing that teams are starting to play certainly made us get up in the morning with a little bit more strength.”