The captain
Before the season was inter-
rupted, center back Steven Birn-
baum was out the door in the
morning and off to Audi Field for
a meeting and practice. By
m id-afternoon, he was back at t he
family home near American Uni-
versity, reunited with wife
Jeanne, infant daughter Colette
and a French bulldog named
Ham.
“You are in that playing mode,
ready to rock,” he said last week.
“A nd then it comes to a screech-
ing halt.”
Birnbaum’s daily routine was
flipped. These days, while his wife
works from home as the director
of e-commerce for an Annapolis-
based apparel company, United’s
captain spends much of the day
with their 5-month-old.
“I am on full dad duty,” said
Birnbaum, 29, who is in his sev-
enth season with United. “It’s
been amazing to be here for all
the moments and watching her
progress. As difficult as it’s been
without soccer, I am very
f ortunate.”
Disney Plus and nursery
rhymes supersede game video
and notes. Neighborhood strolls
and naps fill in for scrimmages
and massage treatments.
Around 4 p.m., Birnbaum be-
gins his solo workout, which in-
cludes running, kicking a ball
against a wall at a p ark and lifting
weights. “Sometimes the baby
watches me,” he said.
As the team leader, Birnbaum
is in regular contact with team-
mates and Coach Ben Olsen. Play-
er questions and concerns funnel
through him.
“We are trying our best to stay
connected, but it is isolating,” he
said. “Everyone is in their own
little world. We’re trying to stay
safe and keep our fitness up be-
cause we don’t have each other
right now. No one knows what’s
going to happen.”
The kid
Griffin Yow is having to grow
up quickly. More than a year has
passed since, at 16^1 / 2 , he signed a
homegrown contract.
With MLS on hiatus, Yow has
lost most of his support system:
camaraderie with other teenage
prospects, mentoring from veter-
ans and daily instruction from
the coaching staff. He has also
missed out on matches with Unit-
ed’s feeder team, second-flight
Loudoun United.
From a personal standpoint, he
is just fine: He lives with hisparents in Clifton and hangs with
his girlfriend and his brother.
Online schoolwork through K12
International Academy will re-
sume soon. (He withdrew from
Centreville High more than a year
ago, before he signed with
U nited.)
Professionally, he has had to
motivate himself.
“I try to stay on my regular
schedule — not sleeping late and
working out in the morning,” he
said.
Any thought of skipping as ession is extinguished by flash-
backs to the two-a-day sessions in
preseason.
“Once you fall behind in your
fitness, it’s hell trying to get it
back,” he said. “I don’t want to let
it slip. I have done everything [the
team has] told me, plus a little
extra.”
While many players have en-
countered problems finding an
adequate field — municipalities
have closed facilities — Yow has
been fortunate. In t he backyard of
a friend’s family property sits afull-sized pitch with goals. Other
times, he leaps a fence at his
former high school to use the turf
field there.
Getting to those locations re-
quires a ride from family; the
young attacker does not have a
driver’s license.
This downtime, though, has
provided an opportunity to study
for the exam.
“A s soon as [the Department of
Motor Vehicles] opens back up,”
he said, “that’s the very first place
I am going.”The newcomer
Until late January, Erik Sorga
had never set foot in the United
States. Six weeks later, the
2 0-year-old forward from Estonia
found himself caught in a nation-
al emergency, hunkered down
with his girlfriend, Elena, in their
apartment near the Pentagon.
The only time he leaves the
building is for workouts at a park
a few blocks away.
“On the field and back,” he said.
“That is it.”
A new car sits in the garage.
Most meals are delivered be-
cause, he said, “I am afraid to go
to the store.”
Sorga has had little time to
explore the city. H e received a visa
after training camp opened and
spent the bulk of February with
the team in Florida.
Back home, Sorga’s parents are
worried. He speaks to them daily.
“My mother says to me she is
scared about the situation here,”
he said. “There is more panic here
than in Estonia. I tell her, ‘I don’t
go to any places; stay calm.’ ”
Estonia, a Baltic nation, claims
about 1.2 million citizens, barely
more than Fairfax County. In Sor-
ga’s homeland, the coronavirus
has infected more than 900 and
killed 12.
With most of the world’s
leagues suspended — and per-
haps not resuming until next sea-
son — Sorga has retained notable
stature: On the 2019-20 European
calendar, he is the leading scorer
with 31 goals for FC Flora Ta llinn.
Because he competed in a low-
level league, however, he will not
win UEFA’s Golden Shoe award,
which is based on a points system.
Ciro Immobile, from Italian club
Lazio, is the front-runner.
“I just did my job,” he said. “I
am glad about this.”The father of five
In many ways, Chris Seitz said,
being home around the clock
with his wife and five children is a
lot like the offseason.
“Except we can’t go out and do
things,” United’s backup goal-
keeper said. “The family time is
awesome, but it’s definitely hard-
er than anything my wife and I
have ever faced.”
On top of that, Seitz, 33, is
rehabbing a torn quadriceps, and
wife Kate started an interior de-
sign business from their home in
Herndon.
The kids range in age from
eight months (Remi) to 7 (Deklyn,
whose birthday was last week).
Cameron turned 5 this week. Ava
is 3, and Parker is 2.
“We call it organized chaos,”
Seitz said. “A lot of days it’s just
chaos.”
With schools and children’s
centers closed, daily routines
have been disrupted.
On Deklyn’s birthday, Seitz ac-
companied her on a bike ride.
Later, he took her and three sib-
lings to a nearby pond and spot-
ted turtles. With the party can-
celed, neighbors came to the edge
of the property and sang, “Happy
Birthday.”
Seitz does his rehab in the base-
ment, where he has a treadmill
(his), a stationary bike (United’s)
and two large travel bags packed
with gear. The injury timetable
was six to eight weeks, an absence
that would have caused him to
miss many matches.
“By the time we get back up
and rolling,” he said, “I will be at
full strength.”
The entrepreneur
Russell Canouse is trying to
make the best of a bad situation.
With ample free time, he is
looking to expand his business
interests beyond real estate, a
pursuit that took hold last year.
He has found a partner. He does
not want to go into detail yet, but
they are working a few angles.
“I encourage all the guys to use
this time to think a little outside
the box, whether it’s improving
yourself as a player or building
something beyond the game,”
said Canouse, 24, a defensive
midfielder and right back who
joined United in August 2017. “My
day isn’t stretched out now; it’s
definitely given me the time to
further pursue it.”
Soccer still comes first. He was
using Long Bridge Park for work-
outs until Arlington County
closed it, forcing him to seek
other venues.
As United’s representative in
the MLS Players Association,
C anouse is in regular contact
with leadership and, in turn, up-
dates teammates on the training
moratorium (through at least
April 24) and scenarios for re-
starting the season (no firm
plans).
His wife, Erika, faces her own
challenges. She is a physician
assistant at Inova Alexandria
Hospital, and though she is not
involved in the care of coronavi-
rus patients, the practice moni-
tors staff throughout the day for
signs of illness.
“It’s a little scary knowing she
is in a hospital environment,”
Canouse said. “Those are the last
people to stay home, right? It
gives you perspective about
where things are right now.”
[email protected]KLMNO
SPORTS
saturday, april 4 , 2020. washingtonpost.com/sports. page c8 Re
As they wait for soccer to return, five D.C. players share the details of their new normal
Still United, now apart
BY STEVEN GOFFA
round noon March 12, the day before a scheduled flight to Cincinnati for the third match of the season, D.C. United’s c oaching staff told the
players to go h ome. Like other pro sports leagues reacting to the novel coronavirus, MLS was shutting down indefinitely and barring team
practices. ¶ In subsequent days, United formulated individual workout programs and, through pickup and delivery, supplied the players
with necessary equipment, ranging from stationary bikes and resistance bands to balls and cones. ¶ In g roup chats, texts and calls, the players and
staff members have been vigilant about staying healthy, k eeping up spirits and ensuring fitness levels remain high. ¶ The pause, however, is being
felt throughout the 25-man roster, which features players from 12 countries, ages 16 to 35, suburban fathers and single urban dwellers alike. ¶ Five
agreed to talk to The Washington Post about life without soccer. ¶photos by John McDonnell/the Washington post
TOP: Steven Birnbaum, left, is “on full dad duty,” and newcomer Erik Sorga is still adapting to life away from his native Estonia.
MIDDLE: Griffin Yow, 17, is living with his parents in Clifton and sometimes treks to his old high school, Centreville, to work out.
ABOVE: Five children keep Chris Seitz, left, and wife Kate plenty busy, and Russell Canouse is expanding his business interests.