Bubble life begins for CPL

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This article was published 21/06/2021 (1569 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For the next five weeks, all eight Canadian Premier League clubs will call Winnipeg home.

But there will be no trips to The Forks or walks around Assiniboine Park. They better hope their hotel rooms come with a nice view as that’s as close as anyone in the bubble will get to explore the Manitoba capital.

“Honestly, I see a lot of flatness. I’m not used to seeing things so flat being from B.C,” said Pacific FC goalkeeper and Vancouver native Callum Irving in a phone interview from his hotel room.

“Usually there are hills, mountains somewhere.”

Irving, who has never been to Winnipeg before, and the majority of the CPL have arrived in town and are starting to unpack and get settled inside the bubble at the Radisson Hotel downtown. Monday saw three CPL teams — Cavalry FC, FC Edmonton, and Winnipeg’s Valour FC — enter the bubble. Atlético Ottawa, Forge FC, Pacific FC, and York United all moved in late last week or over the weekend. HFX Wanderers will be the last squad to join the festivities on Wednesday.

All players and staff are tested for COVID-19 upon arrival and must stay in their rooms until test results come back. They were also tested before travelling to Winnipeg and will be tested three times in the first seven days, followed by two tests every week along with daily screening.

Pacific, based out of Victoria, were able to leave their rooms Monday morning and head to IG Field for their first training session. You’ll also see the teams and their club-branded buses in the coming weeks drive to the Manitoba Bisons turf field and Waverley Soccer Complex for their slotted practice times. The Radisson and the soccer pitch are the only places these teams are permitted to visit during their stay.

The Kickoff, which is the name of the Winnipeg bubble, will see the teams play eight matches apiece at IG Field before returning to their home markets to play the remainder of the season. It’s the second straight year the pandemic has forced the CPL to organize a bubble. The league played a single-site tournament in Charlottetown, P.E.I., last summer.

At this time, there are no plans for fans to be in the stands.

“Last year, we went through something unknown and this year the league is more prepared and ready for it,” said Pacific head coach Pa-Modou Kah, a former defender for the Vancouver Whitecaps.

“Also, Winnipeg has the facilities, has the hotel, so that’s always better. They’re doing everything they can to give these players a season which is the most important thing because these players need to play… But I think the way they’ve committed and have gone about their business is a huge, huge improvement from last year and that’s a compliment to the league and the work they’ve done to pull this off again during these unprecedented times.”

The bubble will house league staff, officials, OneSoccer (league’s broadcast partner) employees, players, coaches, and technical staff which amounts to approximately a total of 240 people. At the hotel, each team will have their own “clubhouse” which is a room for recovery, film study, and watching the other matches on a big screen TV together. The room will also feature leisure activities like ping pong, video games, board games, and books. Teams will also eat their meals in their respective clubhouses in order to keep everyone distanced as much as possible.

“Honestly one of the things I was shocked about last year that now I’m more ready for this year is that there really isn’t too much free time,” said Irving, who’s in his second season with Pacific.

“You get up, you eat your breakfast, you’re doing activation for training, all your medical stuff, you travel, you train, you travel back, you shower, you get your laundry in, then you have lunch. After lunch, you might have a little bit of time, but then you have some recovery, some meetings, dinner, post-dinner you might have more meetings, and then it’s bedtime. Our days are pretty structured. I was shocked by how little free time we have which is probably a good thing.”

The matches begin Saturday with Ottawa playing Edmonton at 1 p.m. followed by the Wanderers squaring off against Pacific. On Sunday, Valour kicks off its season at 1 p.m. against Hamilton’s Forge FC before Cavalry and York do battle at 4 p.m.

“I can’t say enough about how excited we all are to get back on the field and kick a guy that actually isn’t on our team,” Irving said.

“We’ve been doing that for a little bit too long, kicking and fighting with our own teammates, so it’ll be nice to do that with somebody that’s actually an opponent for once.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31