When Canadians head south to escape our cold conditions, the preferences are split between east and west. You’ll find British Columbians and those from the prairies heading to Mexico, California, Arizona or Hawaii. Those from Ontario and east like to head towards Florida and the Caribbean. It makes perfect sense. People tend to stay on their side of the continent.

So, for FC Edmonton, getting to the Dominican Republic for the Canadian Premier League-wide training camp Monday required some preparation — and it just might have reminded the veterans of what it was like to head to Puerto Rico for those old NASL road trips.

Sleep patterns are vitally important to pro athletes, so coach Jeff Paulus expects it will take time for his players to get into their rhythm this week. That said, Paulus’ group settled efficiently enough to produce a training session early Tuesday morning. And, while the team has been training indoors at the Edmonton Soccer Dome, the Caribbean offers a significant change in climate from what the players have gotten used to over the previous month. With all of these factors in mind, Paulus added the team will be taking a cautious approach.

“It’s an interesting one for us,” Paulus said. “We’ll be playing some home games in May, where the conditions won’t be near what we’ll have (in the Dominican). We won’t have heat, humidity, all of that stuff. It will still be kind of cold. So, I will be cautious.

He continued: “We already have to deal with the time-zone change and it will take us a couple of days to really recover from that.”

Once the Eddies acclimate, they’ll play two games — one against a group of select players from the Dominican Republic, and the other against HFX Wanderers. The second match will be special for Paulus, as he shares a special bond with Wanderers’ coach Stephen Hart. When Paulus began taking coaching courses in Halifax, Hart was his very first instructor.

“I don’t know the quality of that (D.R.) team we’re going to play, because it’s made up of players from that region (and South America),” said Paulus. “We had to make sure that we’re going to get one game that’s going to be at the level that we’ll need to be at. It’ll be great to be across from Stephen Hart. I’m delighted for that opportunity.”

The team was shorthanded last weekend when it lost to Cavalry FC in its first pre-season match. As well, Haitian midfielder James Marcelin is expected to join the team, as his visa issues have finally been resolved.

In the game against Cavalry, the most time any Eddie was getting was 60 minutes. By the time the team leaves the Dominican Republic, Paulus wants to see the fitness levels upped.

“I’d like to see some players get close to that 90-minute mark. It might be a big ask at this point, but I want to get as close as we can.”

And, of course, being in the Caribbean means there will be time for the players to relax and bond. Edmonton started preseason with a survivalist weekend trip into the Alberta wild led by goalkeeping coach Lars Hirschfeld. But, when the team gets to the Dominican Republic, the down time will be resemble anything but a Survivor episode.

“We’ll get to team-bond,” said Paulus. “We’ll sort of be like Pacific FC on this trip. We’ll get to do some pre-season on the beach. So we’ll like that — and get to see what it’s like to be a West Coaster.”