After successfully completing entrance physicals on Saturday morning at Gillette Stadium, the New England Revolution officially kicked off preseason preparations for the upcoming 2009 season Monday, as the club conducted its first training session at ForeKicks in Norfolk, Mass. The Revs will continue to train daily at ForeKicks for the remainder of this week, with 10 a.m. sessions set to take place on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
NEWS & NOTES
PRESEASON PREPARATIONS IN FULL SWING
The 2009 preseason has officially begun for the Revolution, which conducted entrance physicals on Saturday at Gillette Stadium and held its first training session on Monday morning at ForeKicks in Norfolk, Mass. ... with an official start date of Jan. 31, the Revs were the last of Major League Soccer's 15 teams to begin preseason training ... the squad will focus more on strength and conditioning for the early part of the preseason before moving more toward ball work and tactics in the coming weeks.
REVS HEALTHY AND HAPPY ON FIRST DAY OF TRAINING
After losing 94 man-games because of injuries in the 2008 regular season alone, the Revs will be aiming for a healthier 2009 ... the year is off to a positive start, as
Taylor Twellman, Steve Ralston, Jeff Larentowicz, Shalrie Joseph
and
Chris Tierney
are all close to full fitness after ending last season on the injury report ... in fact, all five players took part in the Revolution's first training session of 2009 on Monday morning ... Twellman missed a total of 14 regular-season games in 2008 plus both playoff matches after suffering a variety of injuries - most recently concussion-related symptoms - but has since returned to normal activity ... Ralston broke his right fibula in a match at Kansas City on Oct. 11 and missed the remainder of the season, but has since been declared fully fit ... Larentowicz suffered a severely sprained right ankle in the Revolution's final playoff match against Chicago on Nov. 6, but the midfielder has since recovered ... Joseph (R knee sprain) and Tierney (L knee sprain) both suffered knee injuries during the Revolution's playoff series against Chicago, but both have recovered entering the 2009 preseason.
REVS ANNOUNCE 2009 PRESEASON ROSTER
The Revolution announced its 2009 preseason roster on Friday, Jan. 30 ... a total of 27 players are included on the roster, with 19 of those players returning to New England after spending at least a portion of the 2008 season with the Revs ... of the eight new players in camp, five were selected by the Revolution in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft, two were signed by the club as undrafted free agents this offseason and one was brought in as an invitee ... as of Monday, Feb. 2, all but one of the 27 players on the training camp roster had reported to New England for preseason preparations, with only second-year forward
Kheli Dube
absent ... Dube, who is still in Zimbabwe tending to personal matters, will join the team upon his return to the United States.
THE NEW KIDS IN TOWN
There are eight new faces in the Revolution's 2009 preseason training camp, including five 2009 MLS SuperDraft picks and two players who were signed by the club as free agents this offseason ... draft selections
Kevin Alston
(Indiana),
Ryan Maxwell
(Tampa),
Dado Hamzagic
(St. Louis),
Chris Salvaggione
(UNC-Charlotte) and
Darrius Barnes
(Duke) are all currently training with the Revolution, while offseason signings
Mike Videira
- who was a 2008 MLS SuperDraft pick - and
Zack Simmons
are also with the Revs ... also joining the group is goalkeeper
Brian Visser
, who recently completed a four-year career at DePaul University.
REVS SIGN GOALKEEPER ZACK SIMMONS
On Friday, Jan. 30, the Revolution announced that goalkeeper
Zack Simmons
has signed a developmental contract with Major League Soccer to play for the Revs ... Simmons, 23 and a native of Durham, N.H., recently completed a decorate four-year career at the University of Massachusetts, where he compiled a 0.97 goals against average in 84 starts ... the 6-3, 200-pound goalkeeper left the UMass men's soccer program as the leader in almost every career goalkeeping category, including wins (42), shutouts (30) and saves (386) ... he also set single-season marks for wins (17), shutouts (10) and goals against average (0.79) in 2007 during his remarkable junior year, in which he led the Minutemen to the NCAA College Cup and became the program's first All-American since 2002 ... a walk-on to the UMass soccer team as a freshman, Simmons was the 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America of the Year.
KNIGHTON AND TIERNEY ELEVATED TO SENIOR ROSTER
The Revolution announced on Friday, Jan. 30 that goalkeeper
Brad Knighton
and defender
Chris Tierney
have been elevated from the club's developmental roster to the senior roster ... Knighton, 23, is entering his third year with the Revolution after signing with the team as an undrafted free agent in March 2007 ... Tierney, 23, recorded one assist in six league appearances in 2008, his rookie season after being drafted in the first round (13th overall) of the 2008 MLS Supplemental Draft.
PRESEASON TRAINING TO TAKE REVS TO AUSTIN, TEXAS, AND NORTH CAROLINA
The Revolution will travel to Austin, Texas, and North Carolina for outdoor training trips in late February and early March as the team prepares for the opening of the 2009 Major League Soccer season on March 21. The full schedule is as follows:
Revolution Preseason Schedule* (as of Feb. 2, 2009)
Saturday, Jan. 31: Report date/entrance physicals
Monday, Feb. 2 - Sunday, Feb. 22: Local indoor conditioning and training
Monday, Feb. 23 - Sunday, March 1: Austin, Texas
Saturday, Feb. 28: at Austin Aztex FC (Nelson Field, Austin, Texas, 7:30 p.m.)
Wednesday, March 4 - Sunday, March 8: Greensboro, N.C.
Saturday, March 7: vs. Wake Forest University (Macpherson Stadium, Greensboro, N.C., 7 p.m.)
Sunday, March 8 - Sunday, March 15: Cary, N.C.
Saturday, March 14: at Carolina RailHawks (WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary, N.C., 7 p.m.)
*subject to change; visit revolutionsoccer.net for the latest preseason information
REVOLUTION EXPANDS ATHLETIC TRAINING STAFF FOR 2009
On Friday, Jan. 30, the Revolution announced that the club's athletic training staff has been expanded entering the 2009 season ... the club has hired
Phil Madore, A.T.C., L.A.T.C.
, as the team's assistant athletic trainer and created a full-time position for
Glenn O'Connor
, who has been working with the team as its massage therapist on a part-time basis ... Madore will assist head athletic trainer
Sean Kupiec, A.T.C., P.E.S.
, in all aspects of the team's medical care and sports performance, both in-season and during the offseason ... O'Connor, who has been with the Revolution in a part-time capacity since 2002, will now join the club on a full-time basis for the 2009 season.
REVOLUTION ANNOUNCES 2009 SCHEDULE
The Revolution's 2009 regular-season schedule - a 30-game slate that begins March 21 and ends on Oct. 25 - was announced last week ... the schedule features 15 home matches at Gillette Stadium and includes a three-week break from MLS action so that the Revs can defend their SuperLiga title beginning in mid-June ... following road trips to San Jose and MLS Cup runner-up New York to open the season, the Revolution kicks off the 2009 home schedule against FC Dallas on Saturday, April 4 at 7:30 p.m. ... ESPN2 will televise New England's road match at rival D.C. United on Friday, April 17, at 7 p.m., before the club returns home on Sunday, May 3, to host the Houston Dynamo at 3 p.m. ... the LA Galaxy will come to Gillette Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 8, in a nationally televised match on Fox Soccer Channel, while the Revs will close their 2009 regular-season home schedule against bitter rival, the Chicago Fire, on Saturday, Oct. 17 ... eight of New England's matches will be nationally televised on one of MLS' three broadcast partners - ESPN2/ABC, Fox Soccer Channel/Fox Soccer en Español and Telefutura - while TV38 (WSBK-TV) will carry 24 matches.
