The Earthquakes spent Monday at the Electronic Arts campus in Redwood Shores for training and to receive a tour of the facilities. The team and coaching staff was joined by Owner Lew Wolf, Executive Vice President David Alioto and General Manager of Soccer Operations John Doyle for the visit.
After a short bus ride up from Santa Clara, the Quakes trained on the grass field at the center of the EA campus. Training consisted of a warm-up, 5v2s and small sided games. Head coach Frank Yallop split the squad into four teams and they played a number of 5-minute games. Even the three goalkeepers, Joe Cannon, Andrew Weber and Mike Gracyzk got onto the field, as the field was only set-up with mini-goals. A large crowd of EA employees stopped by to watch the training session. Following training, the employees took photos with the players and received autographs.
Following lunch in a private dining area, the team was treated to a full tour of the complex. The tour included stops at the employee arcade, where employees can check out and play any video game they would like, and the employee store. At the employee store, the players stocked up on some of the latest EA titles, including The Godfather II, Rock Band II, Spore, Tiger Woods PGA Tour '09, and FIFA '09, among others.
The tour ended in an auditorium on the campus. Peter Moore, President of EA Sports, talked to the team about some of the key initiatives of the company and showed them highlight videos of EA games. To end the day, a producer from Dante's Inferno, a yet-to-be released game, gave a demonstration of the game and talked about its development.
