Real Salt Lake Preseason Update
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Training Camp #1, Day 3 – Phoenix, AZ
Real Salt Lake Training Schedule – All times MST (same in Utah & Arizona)
* All training sessions open to the public unless otherwise noted
* All sessions to take place at Reach 11 Sports Complex (2425 East Deer Valley Road in Phoenix) – Fields 2 & 3
Thursday, Feb. 2
10:00 a.m. training with full team
4:30 p.m. training with full team
Friday, Feb. 3
10:00 a.m. training with full team
4:30 p.m. training – split squad
Saturday, Feb. 4
10:00 a.m. training with full team
4:30 p.m. training – split squad
Sunday, Feb. 5
12:00 p.m. – Claret-and-Cobalt intra-squad scrimmage
Fill It Up
Real Salt Lake’s training camp will hit maximum capacity later today, as captain Kyle Beckerman and GK Nick Rimando will join their teammates in Phoenix, resulting in all 31 players on the team’s preseason being together for the first time this spring. Beckerman and Rimando got a jump on the preseason by taking part in the U.S. Men’s National Team’s annual three-week camp in January and were allowed a few extra days of rest back in Utah before joining their teammates for the first two-week stay in Arizona. Beckerman was nursing an adductor strain during “Camp Klinsmann” and will continue to recover from the injury under the watch of the RSL training staff, while Rimando will be able to jump straight into the fray alongside returning #2 Kyle Reynish, newly-signed Homegrown talent Lalo Fernandez and guest ‘keeper Jonathan Lester.
Beating the veteran duo into camp by a couple of days was MF Enzo Martinez, who arrived in Phoenix late Tuesday evening and was on the field in Claret-and-Cobalt for the first time at Reach 11 on Wednesday afternoon. The club’s top 2012 MLS SuperDraft selection (17th overall) out of the University of North Carolina joined RSL upon the completion of visa paperwork after spending the last several days in Ottawa.
Getting Defensive
After getting their legs under them during an active two-hour workout on Tuesday evening, Wednesday was all about defense … as the opening week at RSL training camp has always been under Head Coach Jason Kreis. Wednesday’s training sessions were split between two groups in the morning and afternoon, each set starting with 1-v-1 defending toward an endline and building towards the day’s “grand finale” drill, a 4-v-3 exercise finishing on a full goal against ‘keepers. Along the way, Kreis & Co. focused on instilling how to defend “the RSL way” to the draftees and trialists (and some returning guys as well), giving little focus on attacking play and spending all energies on positioning and group tactics on the defensive side.
RSL Training Camp Quick Hits
- Real Salt Lake Communications’ man-on-the-ground, John Koluder, will be providing daily “RSL Preseason Camp Minute” updates from Arizona on behalf of ESPN 700 Sports weekdays throughout the team’s Arizona training camp stints. Click here for the first dispatch from The Copper State, taped on Wednesday.
- Visit the roster page on www.RealSaltLake.com for an updated listing of the players that made the trek to Arizona, including bios for all the newest and hopeful members of the Claret-and-Cobalt. In addition, a PDF of the full version of the 2012 RSL preseason roster can be downloaded by clicking here.
- Click here for a photo gallery from Tuesday night’s opening practice session, and be on the lookout at RSL’s Facebook homepage later this afternoon for more images. Media outlets looking to obtain full-res images from RSL’s Arizona training camp can make their requests by emailing John Koluder at jkoluder@RealSaltLake.com.
- Thursday’s Phoenix weather forecast: Abundant sunshine. High 68F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.
- Thursday’s Sandy weather forecast: Intermittent snow showers. Temps nearly steady in the mid 30s. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 50%.
