As Thorns FC players have returned to their field, beginning individualized training this past weekend, two themes have emerged from the team's first sessions.
The initial practices have been "pretty similar to what I’ve been doing" before, were captain Christine Sinclair's words, a sentiment that was echoed by the team's head coach, Mark Parsons. His "top players," he said, "invest time on their own, already. The offseasons they have, they've had experience doing" the type of workouts that have begun at Providence Park.
The fact those workouts have moved from "random fields and training in your garage," as Sinclair describes, to one of the most celebrated venues in the National Women's Soccer League was the second theme to emerge from Portland's workouts.