Houston Dynamo and Dash return for day two of individual workouts at Houston Sports Park

Dynamo MF Tommy McNamara

On returning to the training facility

“When I found out that we would be able to get back and od individual trainings, I just got excited. Being cooped up and inside away from my teammates and the rest of the staff – it was exciting to at least get out and do something different, get on the field, touch the ball and interact – at a safe distance – with some of my teammates.”

On what he expected when he returned to Houston Sports Park

“Yeah, what we are doing right now is pretty similar to what I expected. We are able to safely work out. We have our own area and work on our fitness, speed, agility – that type of thing. We can do things with the ball that you are not able to do at home, so it has been good and I’m excited to take the next step after this.”

On if returning to Houston Sports Park has been a mental boost

“Yes, it is definitely a boost. It is a boost to kind of get back, a little bit to what normal is (for us). To be stuck inside, I was just like that along with the rest of the country. It is nice when you get a little bit of positive news that something is moving back in the right direction of what normal is. For mental health, this was good.”

On training at a facility like Houston Sports Park

“Yeah, we are blessed with the Academy and with what the Club has done here. We are blessed that we have so many fields available to us. It gives us the space we need, and we can get as many people as we can, safely. It is nice, we get to see some of our teammates and say hello. We can ask about how they’re doing and talk in-person rather than over the phone or via text message.”

On preparing for the next phase the return to play plan

“We are certainly anxious to get going and playing games, sure. We have to understand that there is a health crisis going in the country. So, we need to do our part by social distancing and following the local guidelines are. When they change, we can do more, if it changes positively. If it changes negatively, unfortunately we have to do less. So, we are subject to whatever is going on with the country and we understand that. We just hope that we can continue to do our part, and everyone can just move forward as quickly as possible.”

Dynamo MF Memo Rodriguez

On his experience navigating the pandemic

“It is tough. We are in a difficult time and for us, this is our second day back for individual trainings, but you get to see your teammates here. It is important to be out here and joke around a little bit with your teammates. We are divided and assigned four to a field, so we are a little bit apart from them, but you enjoy their company.”

On if returning to Houston Sports Park is a mental boost

“We are going in a positive direction; it is important to get out here. Obviously as safe as possible, I think everyone is healthy, so it is important to get out here and run. I am not alone, I use to run at a park just by myself. Mentally, it is a little bit hard on you, but now that you have your teammates with you and they can motivate you and can have dialogue with them it is cool and a good experience. Like I said, these are small steps, but these are the steps we are looking forward to.”

On his favorite memories at Houston Sports Park with the Dynamo Academy

“Our FC Dallas games. Those are pretty cool, even at the Academy level there was a great rivalry there and we both had good teams at that time from U-16 to U-18. Players from the U-16 would play up so we had good games with them and you would see a lot of fans, a lot of parents there. It is a great rivalry in general.”

On who has the best quarantine haircut

“I think I do. I think Christian copied me, I didn’t invent hair dye, but I think he went for that same look when I had hair. It’s cool, everyone is doing something different and we are seeing a little more of everyone’s personality.”

Mediocampista del Houston Dynamo Memo Rodriguez

Sobre como se siente regresar al campo de entrenamiento

“Bien, yo creo que es importante regresar y en este caso regresar individualmente. Pero puedes ver la cara de tus compañeros y hablar con ellos en persona”.

Sobre como se siente trabajar con sus compañeros

“Bien, cuando corría yo, yo corría solo en un parque. Obviamente es diferente aquí donde puedes jugar un poco y puedes hablar con tus compañeros y puedes disfrutar de ese tiempo con tus compañeros”.

Sobre el mensaje de Tab para el equipo

“Sabíamos que iba a ser un proceso de pasos chicos. Estamos entrenando individualmente, pero hay cuatro jugadores por cancha. El mensaje es que hay que disfrutar y conseguir lo máximo de estos entrenamientos”.

 

Dash FW Rachel Daly

On returning to Houston Sports Park after quarantine

“It’s great. Obviously, we’ve had to make do with what we had between running on the road, finding parks to run when no one is there. It’s obviously a little frustrating because we want to be out here, but safety comes first. We understand all the precautions we’ve had to take. It is really nice to see everyone get after it here and work so hard. There’s circuits going on, finishing and all sorts going on these pitches. So, it is great to see everyone and have a bit of normality in our lives. It’s nice to see everyone, a smile on their face and the Dash badge on their chest.”

On the measures they were asked to take prior to arriving at Houston Sports Park

“We have to wear masks and bring hand sanitizer, things like that. It’s half a field per roommates, so that is nice. We still have a goal or a couple of goals. We can’t be near anyone and we have to come at different times. I think it was 10-15 minute windows between us and the next group. We have to bring a towel to sit down on, we are not allowed to spit. Things like that, just health and safety measures we have to take and measures we should follow anyway.”

On what she has done to maintain fit during quarantine

“It has been difficult, you have to find ways to stay fit. We were just coming in for preseason so everyone was flying at that point. We were distributed gym equipment and we just have to be intelligent, creative which has been the fun side of it. We’ve had to create fun things on our own that we might not usually work out. I’ve been playing tennis, so I would hit the ball randomly on the wall and things like that. A lot of fitness workouts and circuits, just getting runs in where we can, staying sharp with the ball, play with your roommate, one-two touch when we can.”

On what excites her about getting back to the field

“Just being with everyone. Like I said, it was nice to see everyone having fun and enjoying themselves back out on the field again. We’ve been really involved with Zoom and games, and we’ve done really well as a team. The staff have done well to bring everyone together the best we can. Just to get back after it and have a good preseason. Hopefully, all the closeness that we’ve gained in this time will show on the pitch and I can’t wait to get back playing.”