Baltimore Blast midfielder Denison Cabral spent the past several months constantly asking himself questions.
“I was always thinking about are we going to start?” the franchise’s all-time leading scorer said. “When are we going to start? How many teams? What’s going to happen?”
He got his answers on Monday afternoon at Du Burns arena in Canton, where the defending Major Indoor Soccer League champions opened training camp as a member of the five-team National Indoor Soccer League. And while the league has undergone significant changes, many of faces of the winningest franchise in Baltimore history remained the same.
The Blast opened workouts with 19 players from a training camp roster of 22, including 13 from last year’s squad.
The nine newcomers include Towson and Crystal Palace standout Pat Healey, Overlea High graduate Matt Tirschman, and six unsigned players from an invitational tryout. The roster must be trimmed to 20 players when the Blast opens its season on Nov. 15 against the Orlando Sharks at 1st Mariner Arena.
“All these guys have potential,” Blast coach Danny Kelly said. “The big thing is now, how do they do with all the regulars? Now it’s really time to show what they have.”
The Blast has 16 players under contract, and is expected to add indoor soccer veteran midfielder Craig Scheer next month. Camp opened without midfielder Scott Buete and recently signed free agent defender Jonathan Greenfield, but both are expected by Wednesday.
Training camp, which is open to the public, will be highlighted by an intrasquad scrimmage Nov. 1 at 6 p.m. at Du Burns Arena and a preseason game on Nov. 6 in Philadelphia against the KiXX.
But following a 7 a.m. run at Druid Hill Park and a three-period intrasquad scrimmage at Du Burns, Kelly said many of his players are out of shape.
“Most of them were excited to get back to work,” Kelly said. “Some of them you could tell had a little too much time off. Not all these guys are fitness freaks, and sometimes it doesn’t work in their favor. It shows. Some guys looked out of shape today. At the end of the day, there’s going to be competition for spots and competition for playing time.”
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