Twilight Zone

Back from training at Ulevi stadium with some weird phenomena to report. First, the empty stadium creates a vast, bizarre echo. Due to the way that the stadium is built, all the sound created stays contained, which made our training match of 8v8 sound more like 50v50. The stadium’s velodrome-esque shape is also responsible for the wind tunnel on the field. Air comes into the stadium and, unable to escape, blows around in the center creating strong gusts in the middle of the pitch. More than once we were accosted by gusts of wind that were literally swirling around during the game. And finally, the stadium organizers have decided to create an optical illusion by laying down green turf on the track next to the pitch. In the past, fans have complained at the feeling of distance generated by the eight lane track, and so the powers that be decided to try and deceive them (or at least their eyes) into thinking they’re closer. The weird thing is that it works. So between the sound, the wind, and our eyes playing tricks on us, we were expecting training to turn into some kind of Twilight Zone episode, perhaps with an appearance by William Shatner? But of course, it came off without a hitch.