VANCOUVER, B.C. — The New England Revolution embarked on their road trip to Vancouver on Thursday afternoon, arriving nearly 48 hours before their Saturday afternoon match against the Whitecaps (5:30 pm ET | TSN - Full TV & streaming info)
With it being one of their longest road trips, it's no surprise that the club decided to use one of their four allotted charter flights of the season. But what is different about this journey is the addition of some other players besides the first team on the plane, which is one of owner Robert Kraft's private company jets: The Revs' Under-15, U-17 and U-19 academy teams joined the first team players and staff, as there was plenty of room on the plane to British Columbia.
"There's a couple of things. One, I have no doubt for all the academy kids that are here it'll be an experience they will never forget," general manager Mike Burns told MLSsoccer.com while in the air on the way to Vancouver. "When you're an academy player on a private plane and you're playing a game and then going to a first-team game, it's the overall experience.
"But it's also, not that we always travel like this in terms of on a charter, but it also gives them real access to how the first team travels. How the first team travels from the stadium to the plane and gets off, and we'll have a team meal for everyone so they can be part of it from a first-team standpoint."
Each team will play a match on Friday against the Vancouver academy at the Whitecaps FC National Soccer Development Centre, who are on a bye from their regular schedules this weekend. They will then get a chance to take in the MLS match against the ‘Caps at BC Place on Saturday.
“Being able to cross time zones, go across the continent, come in the night before a game on a six-hour flight, and be able to perform either the next day or the day after, requires a real mental strength,” director of youth development Bryan Scales told RevolutionSoccer.net. “That has to be worked on, but it also has to be identified.
“This is something that [the academy players] have to be able to understand – that there’s a difference between vacation and a business trip. This’ll be a fun business trip for our guys.”
Everyone will travel back to New England on Saturday night, immediately following the match. Another interesting detail: It may be a business trip for Burns and the rest of the Revolution, but it also includes some familial ties, as his son Trevor features for the Revs’ U-19 team.
“I have been given strict instructions that I’m not to do too much interaction with the academy team because I’m his father first and general manager second. It’s cool [and] it’s obviously great to have him involved," said the elder Burns. "To be on the trip together is probably cooler for me than it is for him.”
