Tuesday, the Columbus Crew welcomed season ticket holders to a special training event. For the first time at Lower.com Field, supporters watched the Black & Gold train. It was a re-entry day with players performing light drills including games like tic tac toe, soccer tennis and culminating in a shooting contest where pairs lobbed in passes and shot against Columbus’ goalkeepers.
In the air were unseasonably hot temperatures and an underlying excitement. Just eight hours prior to the event, Columbus announced the signing of forward Cucho Hernández. A familiar emcee of the training session, head coach Caleb Porter, educated the supporters about training games and introduced coaches but his most notable comment came in his excitement for Hernández, yelling “Cuchoooo” into the microphone, which reverberated throughout the stadium.