Training Camp Notes: Week One

The club sent out their weekly News & Notes email with a couple updates from camp in Tucson and the top five in the various measurable tests given at the VMAC early in the week. Sounder at Heart reader Lachlan went to the first Tucson session and shared his update as well.

First though, next week three of the four preseason matches will be streamed at MLSSoccer.com. That means you can watch the rebranded Earthquakes at 11 AM on the 5th, the 6 PM games on the 8th against Portland and the 11:30 AM Sunday the 9th against the Whitecaps will also be over the interwebs. If you are in the Tucson area the Portland game in the stadium does have a fee for tickets. The others are not in the stadiums and are free to watch (parking charges may apply).

The fitness results are in and Dylan Remick comes out as a great athlete. Youth dominated these tests again.

Fitness Testing Complete
As in year's past, the 2014 preseason training camp opened with fitness testing, including the 30-meter sprint test, the 5-10-5 agility test, the jump test and the Yo-Yo IR2 (Beep Test). The top five finishers for each test are listed below, in order of their finish.

30-meter Sprint: Stefano Rijssel, Dylan Remick, Tristan Bowen, Osvaldo Alonso, Damion Lowe.
5-10-5 Agility: Osvaldo Alonso, Sean Okoli, Dylan Remick, Aaron Kovar, John McCarthy.
Jump Test: Tristan Bowen, Dylan Remick, Damion Lowe, Obafemi Martins, John McCarthy.
Yo-Yo IR2 :David Estrada, Aaron Kovar, Andy Rose, Dylan Remick, Eriq Zavaleta.

Lachlan's notes from the session he watched include an extensive description of Aaron Kovar. The whole thing is worth your eyeballs, but this part must be read;

I've never seen Aaron Kovar play, but today I had the chance to finally witness what he is all about. Talking to Matt Gaschk, he describes Kovar as more of a box to box player. Whatever you want to call him, you can immediately tell that he has incredible insight, and read the games well. Taking a page from Dutch Total Football and the concept of T.I.C. (Technique, Insight, and Communication), Kovar certainly has all three qualities. Example, during a 6v6 exercise where Kovar's side was on offense, after an errant play I saw him make a few hand gestures to Tristan Bowen (sporting the Adidas F50 adizero), who was playing on the opposite flank. The gesture read to me as "I'm gonna switch it, be ready." And what do you know, he did exactly that. A beautiful left footed pass that hit Bowen exactly where it needed to be. The kid is fluent in the game of soccer. He listens to its language, and he understands and adjusts accordingly. I'm really excited about his future.

And if you are a shoe fiend, Lachlan tracks that data as well.

The team also released the current roster, draftees and trialists.

Sounders FC Preseason Roster

Goalkeepers (4): Stefan Frei, Marcus Hahnemann, Josh Ford, John McCarthy#

Defenders (9): Jalil Anibaba, Leo Gonzalez, Damion Lowe, Chad Marshall, Jimmy Ockford*, Dylan Remick, Zach Scott, Djimi Traore, DeAndre Yedlin+

Midfielders (14): Osvaldo Alonso, Michael Azira#, Alex Caskey, Dzenan Catic#, Clint Dempsey^, Brad Evans+, Shalrie Joseph-, Aaron Kovar, Tarek Morad#, Jason Morrison#, Lamar Neagle, Fabio Pereira*, Stefano Rijssel*, Andy Rose

Forwards (11): Chad Barrett, Will Bates=, Tristan Bowen, Kenny Cooper, David Estrada, Miguel Gonzalez#, Obafemi Martins, Sean Okoli, Kevin Parsemain#, Long Tan#, Eriq Zavaleta

^On Loan

+USMNT Camp

*Unsigned SuperDraft picks

#Training Camp Invitees

=Rehab in Seattle

-Not with Team