FRISCO, Texas – With the playoffs a weekend away and with the last regular season match key to postseason positioning, FC Dallas took a moment to remind themselves where this year’s journey began.
FC Dallas players, coaches, staff and ownership joined the US ambassador from United Arab Emirates and other dignitaries to celebrate the dedication of Jubilee Park and Community Center, a joint community development project between FC Dallas Foundation and the UAE Embassy that will benefit the southeast Dallas and Fair Park neighborhoods.
It was a partnership that began when FC Dallas spent a portion of their preseason training in the UAE. And now that the team is on the verge of the 2014 playoffs and their most successful season since making the 2010 MLS Cup Final, the event was a fitting tribute to how the year began.
“When you see the results, and you see the chemistry of the team, it all started in the Emirates,” said FCD head coach Oscar Pareja. “It was a wonderful trip. Us having the opportunity to go with such a special culture, not just training but preparing the group as a group, that was outstanding.”
Clark Hunt, president of Hunt Sports Group, FCD’s ownership group, noted the benefit to the team from their time training at world-class facilities in UAE.
“I just think, like what you are seeing with the field and the tremendous asset this is going to be for the community, they have great facilities in the UAE,” Hunt said. “They have a climate that is perfect in February for preseason training, so Oscar was able to get them into full training very quickly. Any time you have a great season, it goes all the way back to the preseason.”
The relationship with the UAE grew beyond just a preseason training location into their partnership in creating the Jubilee project. And FCD were more than willing to take time out of their preparations for their Saturday match against the Portland Timbers (8:30 pm ET; Stream of the Week) to show their appreciation.
“Going back to the beginning of the year, we’ve had a tremendous partnership with the UAE,” Hunt said. “The team went over there, had a great experience. They told us about this program, and we had a similar program in Dallas where we had already built two fields. It was just natural for the two of us to partner together and do this field here at Jubilee Park.
“It’s something we think is central to the mission of the FC Dallas Foundation. There is a shortage of fields throughout the community. We’ll do more fields in the future.”
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Considering the way 2014 has gone for the team, Pareja was understandably interested in repeating the process.
“I would do again and again,” Pareja said. “The way the people there treated us and the experience itself, having the opportunity to be in such a neat country, everything just came together. That was the start.”
Fostered by Etihad Airway’s direct flights from Dallas to UAE, team president Dan Hunt said there are talks of going back – but not until 2016, with uncertainty surrounding the 2015 collective bargaining agreement.
“They made a huge financial commitment in flights over,” Dan Hunt said. “We’ve already talked about facing European opponents.”
Even at the event, the upcoming game against the Timbers and the following playoff games were not far from the thoughts of those involved.
“We are really excited about the playoffs,” Clarke Hunt said. “When you miss a year or two, it seems like you’ve been out for a decade. It’s so great, the job Oscar has done to lead the team back to the playoffs.
“I think we have a really talented team. We’re getting a little bit healthier than we have been for most of the season, so we should be at or near full strength, which will be a bit asset for us.”
