The unexpected advantage of a break in the season is, of course, family time (at least for most) and Eloy Room is taking full advantage of his introduction to fatherhood while back home in the Netherlands.
"[Being here] is a blessing because I get to spend time with the baby and my girlfriend [Lisa]," Room said.
His daughter, Lala Lovie Room, was born on April 11, 2020, in the Netherlands where Room was able to travel to before travel restrictions were enacted.
Health precautions due to COVID-19 meant that he was the only spectator allowed in the delivery room. Since then, they have had to abide by social distancing measures in other family interactions even -- something that, as Room said, has been difficult.
Of course, Room was not expecting to be gifted this much time with Lala at this point. Theoretically, the Crew would have been preparing for their ninth match of the season on Wednesday.
Room is not the only Dutch member of the Crew to be cherishing this time with family, as both Youness Mokhtar and Vito Wormgoor recently added members to their clans as well.
The three of them have been in contact often about their own adventures, Room said, particularly with the "experienced" Wormgoor, who welcomed his fourth girl recently.
"Vito is experienced, he’s got four kids already. So if there’s something I need to know, I go to him. Youness had his second child. I’m the newbie now, so I have to learn from them," Room commented.
All things considered, it's always been a family affair of sorts when it comes to the Crew as an organization.
Currently, players and coaches are reading stories digitally; technical staff members are sharing #StayAtHome tips like recipes & workout plans, and even customized children's activity books are being pushed out each week.
On the First Team side, players are keeping in touch via Zoom calls on a daily basis, in addition to the technical staff leading group exercises
When it comes to training, though, it's one thing to get some touches in for, say, a midfielder, but there's no doubt that the closing of fields has been harder for the goalkeepers.
"The real goalkeeping training I cannot do because I cannot go to the pitches. I try to do some things with the ball, some jumping and handling. It’s difficult when you’re alone," said Room, who hopes to be able to go to a pitch in the coming days for standard goalkeeper exercises.
"Sometimes when I am running, I forget that I am a goalkeeper," he added jokingly.
As Room waits to resume a normal training regimen, he said he's kept in touch with a lot of former teammates around the world as well, with each player subjected to slightly different circumstances.
"I have a lot of old teammates that play throughout Europe and the United States. It’s strange to hear their stories. I have a friend who plays in Spain and their rules are different. Some players play in different countries in Europe, so they have different rules."
Still, there is a key similarity in this ubiquitous circumstance we find ourselves in, and that's simply the lack thereof of interaction.
"For all of us, it’s a difficult time," Room said of all his current and former teammates he's spoken with, "but we have to adapt and stick with it. The only thing we can do is hope we play again."
After all, it is not like there isn't some secret or elusive exercise that only certain teams hold onto -- overall, it's work out then hang out, and it's not like the fans are missing Crew soccer more than the players.
"I miss Columbus and the team. I miss being with the guys. I miss making jokes and training hard every day. That’s the thing you like as a football player... [but] there’s more things in life than football. We have to stay safe and stay healthy and stay fit. For the fans, just hold on."
