Before Rob Vincent could train with his players again, the Riverhounds Development Academy coach needed to get creative.
His backyard is situated on a hill, reducing how effective any work with a soccer ball there could be. Instead, the former professional player headed to his garage, and once or twice a week, Vincent cleared out that space, creating a makeshift soccer field on cement — dribbling around cones while evading the lawn mower and gardening tools in the corner rather than real-life defenders.
“There [were] probably kids working with even smaller spaces than I was working with,” Vincent said, “so [it was just] trying to make it available to everybody, so everyone could do what they needed to do and get something out of it.”
When sporting events around the world were put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, Vincent and the Riverhounds Development Academy made adjustments on the fly, ensuring its players could remain in soccer shape despite an inability to continue with the spring season.
The academy, which launched in 2007, plays in the Elite Clubs National League’s Ohio Valley Conference for girls and Midwest Conference for boys, facing teams from New York to Minnesota in fall and spring seasons. Associated through Pittsburgh’s USL Championship club — a common partnership worldwide as pro teams develop the next generation of talent — the academy trains around 1,300 players between the ages of 3 and 18.
Players completed their winter training schedule before the pandemic came in full force in mid-March, and some were preparing to depart for Nashville to compete in ECNL games. Instead of heading south for a weekend of competition, though, the season abruptly ended.
“It sucked,” said Riverhounds Academy director Scott Gibson said. “So we had to adjust.”
View this post on Instagram
Rather than in-person instruction, coaches turned to technology — be it video clips or Instagram Live sessions featuring Vincent’s garage — to keep academy players engaged and as in-form as they could be given the circumstances.
“It’s been crazy for everyone,” Gibson said “It was a period of 11 or 12 weeks there where we — it was actually different, it was kind of more work for me, for that period. But it was definitely unique, that’s for sure.”
Gibson quickly turned into an amateur video editor, chopping together files from his coaching staff on iMovie to send to academy players each day. He also sent assignments for players to complete, such as analyzing the 2011 Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United or answering questions based on a Lionel Messi spotlight tape.
That regimen lasted for about a month before Gibson changed things up, scheduling a different coach each day to hold an Instagram Live workout. Gibson said there would be about 250 to 300 viewers during each session, and because it took place on social media, the reach went beyond just academy players.
Coaches led players through drills they could do on their own in tight spaces, be it passing off a wall or dribbling through cones. Vincent would challenge his charges with different skill moves to work on over the week, and they’d send back videos of their progress.
“That was fun to see those players. You know, I had a few of the girls on my team sending me their blooper reels, where they were trying a move for a couple days and they couldn’t pull it off,” Vincent said. “Within a few days they kind of mastered it. And then we’d move on to the next one.”
View this post on Instagram
In a sense, the focus on footwork and dribbling was a return to basics that older players can sometimes get away from in full-team practices. And now that players are returning to the field for socially distanced training, the coaching staff can see the benefit.
“They’ve worked three months intently on their feet, on their footwork,” Gibson said. “So they’ll be sharp with that, they’ll have improved with that. We can focus maybe a little bit more of our time on the tactical side.”
Gibson considers the academy lucky. Because of the relationship with Riverhounds SC, he got to see how a return to training operated in May — what worked, what didn’t and what safety measures the academy would need to incorporate.
Based on the Riverhounds’ small-group training sessions, the academy began to welcome players back once Allegheny County entered the green phase of Gov. Tom Wolf’s reopening plan. Still, there are plenty of precautions. The staff sanitized every piece of equipment imaginable — balls, cones, discs, etc.
“I never thought of doing that,” Gibson said.
Once players arrive in small groups for one-hour sessions, they have to go through a check-in process. Ten minutes before practice begins, the gate opens at Highmark Stadium, which the academy is using instead of its Coraopolis facility to condense operations. The players line up with masks on, turn in a health checklist sheet and get their temperature taken.
Before taking the field, each player sanitizes their hands. Then they can run onto the pitch, stand by their spaced-out cone and train, still going through individual technical exercises rather than contact-based competition.
And after practice is finished, the staff has 15 minutes to prepare for the next group, dumping balls and cones into vats of disinfectant. It’s a long process, but it’s worth the fresh air.
“Just to get back outside,” Vincent said, “and kind of see them all again and see how happy they are to be back at the field, back at the stadium, it’s good.”
Things aren’t completely back to normal; not yet, at least.
But playing at Highmark Stadium — with the Downtown skyline in view and the Monongahela River flowing past — beats playing in the garage anytime.
Andy Kostka: akostka@post-gazette.com
First Published: June 17, 2020, 12:00 p.m.
