During the winter of 2023, CF Montreal trained 51 times on the new state-of-the-art pitch at the Olympic Stadium. This year ? It will be impossible. The Olympic Park canceled the club’s rentals without notice last month to carry out work. Consequence: the CFM will spend the overwhelming majority of the next 90 days on the road in the United States.
“It’s a huge headache,” President Gabriel Gervais told me.
A logistical headache, obviously. New land must be reserved. Charter planes. Book hotel rooms. But it is also a management headache. Management will have to ensure that the players, coaches and members of the technical team, who will live out of their suitcases for three months, will maintain their enthusiasm and motivation.
The journey will begin on Monday, with an unplanned two-week trip to Arizona. Director of Operations, Daniel Pozzi, worked hard to find available land that met the team’s needs. The group will return to Montreal on January 28, for a week. He will train on an indoor field, possibly that of Cégep Marie-Victorin. “In the collective agreement, we must offer days off during camp. It will be in that week,” explains Gabriel Gervais.
On February 4, the club will fly to Florida for another three weeks of camp. He will remain there until February 24, date of the first match of the season, against Orlando City.
After ?
It’s foggy.
The CFM will play its first six games on the road. First, in the southern United States, in Orlando, Dallas and Miami. Then to Chicago, Washington and Seattle. In the initial plan, this sequence was interspersed with a match and training at the Olympic Stadium. Now that this is impossible, several scenarios are on the table.
“We are looking at the possibility of extending certain trips. If we play [dans le Sud], for example, we could extend our presence by a week and go directly to the next city. » In this period of a month and a half, the CFM will only have one week without a game, after the match against Chicago.
The easy solution would be to return to Montreal between games and train in an indoor sports complex, like that of Cégep Marie-Victorin (the Saputo stadium and the Nutrilait center, which are not winterized, are not options to consider). the end of winter). The reality is, however, more complex, explains Gabriel Gervais.
“We can’t train too much on synthetic fields that don’t meet FIFA standards,” like the one at the Olympic Stadium. “You may risk injury. There is also an issue with the size of the grounds, so that players can easily find their bearings. »
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The president of CF Montreal, Gabriel Gervais
A headache, we said.
All this time spent away from home, partners, children and friends, with a disrupted routine, risks having an impact on the morale of the troops. Well, maybe not in the first few days. The players will meet their teammates, welcome the newcomers and discover their new head coach, Laurent Courtois. “We’re going to be together,” says the coach French. We’ll get to know each other so much faster than spending a few hours [sur le terrain] before returning home. »
“As a former player, I liked starting camp away. It’s good for the team’s chemistry,” adds Gabriel Gervais.
Except that after eight, ten, twelve weeks, the enthusiasm will surely be more moderate. As a player on the Canadian water polo team, who spent 92 consecutive days (!) on the road before the Tokyo Games, told me, “after two months of traveling, we just wanted single rooms for being able to not talk to each other for a few hours.”
Gabriel Gervais is aware of the risks. Especially for players and coaches who have families. The CFM has learned lessons from the long stays of Canadian MLS clubs in the United States, during the confinement of 2020. A painful period. Marc Dos Santos, who then managed the Vancouver Whitecaps, told me he was going through the most difficult moments of his career. Several of his players had had a hard time being away, especially the young parents.
“We experienced the hardest part of COVID-19 in Canada,” explains Gabriel Gervais. We were abroad all the time. It is still fresh in the minds of our people. »
We must find a work-life balance, take care of the mental health of employees. We will manage this.
Gabriel Gervais, president of CF Montreal
Of course, it will be a little better this time. Players will not be confined to hotel rooms. They will make a few short returns to Montreal before the first local match at Saputo stadium on April 13. And no one will be separated from their children for months, as was the case for Thierry Henry during the 2020 confinement.
However, the CFM prefers to be proactive. The club is considering a rotation system to prevent employees (apart from the players) from leaving for too long. “We are also considering bringing the families of players and staff members with us for the first weeks,” adds Gabriel Gervais. We will have to be creative. If it’s too long, you can lose players mentally. You have to think about that. »
And did this tile have an impact on recruitment? Have we specifically targeted young single players, for example?
” No. Other clubs tour extensively and play a lot on the road. It’s part of being a footballer. What we are looking for above all is good players. »