Insider On Tour | Day Two Recap
By Matthew Levine
After a day spent with the Jacksonville Armada FC, day two of the trip belonged FC Edmonton and the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Venturing out to Davis Park, I watched Eddies head coach Colin Miller put his team through their paces. After grabbing a quick lunch, I traveled to the FC Edmonton team hotel for a few more interviews.
Next, it was back on the road to talk to a few of the Rowdies players at their hotel.
Most importantly, I got a lot of great insight for stories to come later.
Here are a few notes from the day.
Eddies Training
FC Edmonton’s session, while maybe not quite full throttle with a game the next day, was enjoyable to watch.
Starting out with a bit of possession, the Eddies, not known for their slick passing game, were knocking the ball around quite well. However, it didn’t come without small punishments throughout the drill.
After doing a fair amount of crossing and finishing drills, FC Edmonton was again looking pretty sharp, although, it’s always easier when there are no defenders! However, this was a nice finish off a rebound when working on corners.
One thing that definitely stood out was Lance Laing’s service. The defender-turned-midfielder time and time again was placing crosses into the box on teammates’ heads. He should be as dynamic as ever in his second year in that midfield role in 2015.
Fast Eddies
Johann Smith is certainly known for his quickness, but there are a few other fleet-footed Eddies. Sainey Nyassi and Eddie Edward are certainly contenders for fastest on the team.
However, Smith, who will feature in a left back role primarily after the majority of his career has been spent as a winger, was adamant that he was the quickest, saying Edwards was the closest to him for speed.
“They’re not catching me,” he said during our conversation. “If they want to have a race, I’ll go backwards and I’ll beat those guys.”
Must see this race on video shortly!
Rowdies At Home Base
Unfortunately was unable to get to a Rowdies session with how things worked out, however, that just adds more anticipation to getting a glimpse of the team on Saturday.
When I got to the club’s hotel for their stay in Jacksonville, several players were involved in card games – two separate tables going on – with of course, soccer on the television in the background.
My interviews were certainly lively and every single one of the players loved the new renovations to Al Lang Stadium. Georgi Hristov ranked the new pitch as one of the top two playing surfaces in the league. The other? That will be in a story about Al Lang coming in the near future.
The Multi-Talented Zak Boggs
While my conversation with the Rowdies forward featured a bit more off of the field activities, it should turn into an interesting story.
The Rowdies certainly agree.
Just a few teasers: His sister, Tori, is at the apex in the jump rope field. He mentioned she has won nine, yes nine, world championships and has appeared on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”, “America’s Got Talent”, and has done some work for Cirque du Soleil.
Also, in West Virginia, at least at the time Boggs was in school, marbles was a part of the curriculum in gym class. The now 26-year-old excelled at them and became a state champ.
Pele’s Wood Fire
In the spirit of the trip, I decided to check out Armada FC Owner Mark Frisch’s restaurant. Aptly named for an owner of a North American Soccer League club, it doesn’t actually stand for the Brazilian great, instead for the Hawaiian Goddess of Fire.
To the important part, the food, which made it well worth the stop. Great pizza, take it as an endorsement I’m from New York, and the fried ravioli appetizer with a little kick from jalapenos didn’t disappoint.
Don’t take my word for it though. When your respective club visits the Armada FC, go check it out for some first hand experience.
