Bradenton, Florida
Well it's been a little over a week since I joined the Red Bulls and while it was all a bit overwhelming at first, each day I get more and more comfortable with everything. Last Tuesday, January 30 I met the whole team for a meeting in Giants Stadium, where they play their home games. Everyone welcomed me to the team and all the big "stars" like Claudio Reyna and coach Bruce Arena seemed to be very humble and good people.
We then traveled to New York City for a photo shoot where we all put on the team uniforms and had our headshots and action shots taken of us in this studio in Tribeca. That was actually pretty cool.
The next day was filled with trips to the doctor for team physicals and orthopedic screenings, nothing too exciting. I did get a chance to train and play with the team on Wednesday and Thursday which was pretty exciting. It was good to finally get out on the field and just play in an informal atmosphere before heading down to Florida. It was a good couple of days to get my feet wet.
Since those first few days at Giants Stadium we've made our way down here to Bradenton, Florida with its 75 degrees and sunny weather. February 3 was our first official day of preseason and as to be expected there were a lot of first-day jitters. I didn't play as well as I would have liked and had a nice, little reality check from Claudio Reyna when he rocketed a shot past me with tremendous ease. I wasn't even angry, I was just in awe more than anything.
Since then, each day I've been getting more comfortable and learning a great deal from the veteran goalkeepers and coaches that I'm able to train with. We mostly train twice a day at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. for two hours at a time. The amount of fitness and running we've had to do hasn't been too bad its mostly a lot of playing as we're all adjusting and building that team chemistry.
February 6 we had an off-day and the team went to play mini-golf. It was a nice change of pace. I started off hot, but fell apart on the back nine. I think I finished seven over par...terrible.
Overall, I feel privileged to be working with the guys on the team and am just looking to take as much in as I can and help this team wherever I can.
Until next time...
February 11, 2007
Preseason Day 10
Bradenton, Fla.
Today is our second off-day of preseason and it's much needed. The last few days have been pretty tough in terms of training and anytime we get some time to chill by the pool or watch TV for endless hours is pretty money.
This past Friday we changed things up a bit by moving our afternoon training session to one of the local beaches here in Bradenton. We ran on the beach, did some crazy exercises in the water, and actually played some volleyball. It was definitely a good chance for the entire team to get away from the training field, enjoy the weather, and have some fun.
Yesterday we scrimmaged the Under-17 National Team for a full 90 minutes. While I didn't get a chance to play, the goalkeepers had a pretty tough training session that lasted for nearly the full 90 minutes. Luckily we had the rest of the day off and all day today so our bodies have a chance to recover.
This coming week we're playing four games in seven days against other MLS teams. I don't really know the order but we play Kansas City, Columbus, D.C., and Chicago before we head back to N.Y. next Monday, Feb. 19.
One week of training camp left and I'm looking forward to getting better each day and then going home for a few days or even back to Philly to relax for a few days.
That's all for now, I should have more updates as the week goes on.
Feb. 17, 2007
Orlando, Fla.
We left Bradenton, Fla. on Thursday and drove up to Orlando where we're playing in a pre-season tournament at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex.
Last night we played the defending MLS Champions Houston Dynamo and lost 3-1. The result was a bit disappointing but it's still early and we're still getting used to each other and building that chemistry. Today we had a light training session in preparation for our match tomorrow night against Real Salt Lake.
Other than that, we've been mostly watching TV and sleeping. Aside from the soccer, everything moves slowly and there's a lot of down time. I've been hanging out with a couple of guys my age who were drafted this year--my roommate Sinisa Ubiparipovic from Akron, Randi Patterson from UNC-Greensboro and Hugh McDermott from Monmouth. They actually just told me to write some stuff about them as we sit around the dinner table!
We're enjoying ourselves and it's cool to be around kids who are going through the same thing that I am. We're all crossing our fingers hoping to get signed sometime in the next few weeks but on the whole, we can't really complain all that much since the weather is great and I get the chance to play pro soccer for a bit.
I feel much more comfortable on the field now and in goal which always helps the confidence level although I have yet to hear any news regarding a possible contract/roster spot.
We fly back to New Jersey Monday morning and have a couple of days off before training again at Giants Stadium and then leaving for Los Angeles on March 1. By then we should know where we stand on the team but until that time, just a lot of hard work and having fun.
***Courtesy of Penn Athletics***
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