BRADENTON, Fla. - With the occasional monotony that comes with the grind of preseason, the Red Bulls coaching staff decided to change the pace of training a little bit on Friday afternoon. So instead of heading to the IMG Academy soccer fields, the team climbed into vans, dabbed on some sunscreen and drove a little less than an hour down to Siesta Key - an area known for their beaches.
Once arriving, wearing in their practice shorts, the team took a short jog before jumping into the 61-degree water for regeneration for their legs.
"It's just a way for us to get away from soccer a little bit," said assistant coach Richie Williams. "The thing is for them to have a little bit of fun today and obviously with training being serious and preseason being serious, this lets them get away a little bit and relax.
"This is a pretty good double day for us," said defender Todd Dunivant. "We just came out, jogged on the beach a little bit, went into the water and played a little bit of volleyball. It's a nice change to break up the routine."
The team enjoyed the impromptu trip to the beach, bringing out a couple of volleyballs and starting a few games of beach volleyball.
"Bad," was how midfielder Dema Kovalenko described the skill level.
"I think we should all stick to our day jobs but it's fun to mess around every once in a while," a more diplomatic Dunivant said.
Friday served to be the last two-a-day session that the Red Bulls will have in Florida and while some outside the squad might not consider an afternoon session at the beach a real practice, coaches and players cited the importance of team building.
"This is the time in preseason to get the guys together," Dunivant said. "We played putt-putt on our day off that most of the team went to and we're coming together pretty quickly. Obviously, with a lot of changes in the offseason, we need to come together pretty fast and we have two months to do that."
"We have a very good group and a very good team with a lot of new guys," Kovalenko said. "I think we have a special group and I think we're going to be a lot better than last year's team."
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