Whitecaps keeping players active
Team has sent exercise equipment to everyone anticipating an eventual season start
Don’t bother asking Russell Teibert if Carole Baskin did it. The Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder hasn’t spent his time in isolation watching Tiger King like the rest of us.
He gets his big-cat fix without Netflix.
“I don’t have Netflix. I don’t have Crave or Amazon. I’ve been watching BBC life . ... I’m telling you, this, I can watch this all day,” he said during a Zoom media availability Tuesday. “I’ve been learning about the lions and prides. … It’s incredible.”
When Teibert’s not learning about African wildlife, he’s watering his plants, having an espresso on the balcony of his downtown condo, reading or listening to records.
The vinyl ones.
On a record player.
“I might be a little bit of an old soul,” he said with a smile.
“For me, being inside has been really different. There are always ways to make the best of a situation and stay positive.”
It’s two days shy of a month since MLS suspended its season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Whitecaps players are subject to the same social-distancing restrictions as the public, but the organization has gone to great lengths to make sure its players are staying healthy.
Exercise bikes, weights and exercise equipment have been delivered to every player’s home. Prepared meals are dropped off four times a week. Strength-and-conditioning coach Jon Poli holds online workouts.
“The club has done an outstanding job of supporting players and everyone in the organization as a whole. I had a conversation with (CEO Mark Pannes) and I said, ‘This was the most support I’ve felt since I’ve been at this club,’” said Teibert, who has been a member of the organization since joining the residency program in 2008.
“This is an unprecedented time and the situation is ever-evolving. One day you think you have the pulse of things, and something else develops the following day. That’s the thing we’ve done incredibly well thus far is adapting to scenarios as they come at us.”
“Everyone is still fit. Everyone still has their own program. … Everyone is training six times a week,” added keeper Max Crepeau. “There’s no cheating, there’s no cutting exercises. We’ve said it in team meetings that we’re not in off-season mode; it’s still the season. Everyone’s keeping engaged. Everyone will be fit once we can get back on the field, then it’s a matter of getting their rhythm.”
Maintaining physical readiness hasn’t been the hardest issue for the team’s players. Preserving team unity without any face-to-face contact has been a greater challenge.
Zoom conferencing and social media has helped. From a group rendition of Happy Birthday for newcomer Ranko Veselinovic on March 24, to game nights and group chats and Andy Rose issuing digital challenges, the team has maintained a semblance of the chemistry they had before play was shut down.
“I think we’re on four or five different group chats where it’s constant communication with each other,” said Teibert. “Just anything to keep guys engaged. That’s something we’re doing as a whole group. But there are individuals you obviously reach out to, as well. I can’t count the amount of times
I’ve been on the phone with Ali (Adnan) and In-beom (Hwang), and even (club employee) Aidan Prem.
“And I think that’s the most important thing — to try to live through this as normal as possible. This situation poses different scenarios to each individual, and they’re not all the same. And each person views them differently, as well. We’re in a time where the majority of communication needs to be over the phone or on a Zoom platform … and we as a whole, as a club, have done a great job with making all members feel included,” Teibert added, when asked how players like Leo Owusu, Janio Bikel and Veselinovic — all who joined the team just before the shutdown — have handled it.
“I think the mental side of it is the big challenge right now, because we’re all away from each other. It’s just to make sure that everybody feels at home.”