Meet the men behind the scenes for the Montreal Impact — why Braz and Pozzi’s roles are vital

Adam Braz, in pink, from his playing days. PHOTO: BOB FRID/CANADA SOCCER

Just as most of what comprises an iceberg is hidden under the surface of the water, much of the essential work in the operation of a soccer team takes place well away from the glare of the media. While the players, coaches and owners are the public faces of an organization, getting the acclaim and catching the blame for team performances, much of what they are cheered or jeered for is the result of the efforts of team support staff.

Adam Braz and Daniel Pozzi are charged with the smooth functioning of many of the off-pitch activities for the Montreal Impact, an area of jurisdiction that touches on virtually all other areas of team operations. Braz holds the title of team manager; Pozzi’s designation is that of Team Administrator.

Braz retired as a player following the 2010 season, ending a pro career that saw him play seven seasons in Impact colours (2001, 2004-06, 2008-10) and play at the MLS level with TFC in its inaugural campaign in 2007. Pozzi, who didn’t play professionally, spent the past two years working in the Impact’s sales department before jumping on the opportunity to work in conjunction with Braz.

Their functions involve both team logistics and individual attentions to players and their families, smoothing things out and helping to minimize any distractions or other difficulties that prevent them from concentrating upon their on-pitch responsibilities. Relocation, dealing with government bureaucracy and paperwork, travel arrangements, arranging for healthcare, booking travel and lodgings on the road and dealing with the needs of visiting teams also fall under their purview.

Doing all this for an established organization is difficult enough, but accomplishing everything necessary to set up and support a team in its first year in top-flight competition is more than a one-man job. And, sometimes more than a two-man job.

“I think, this year, everyone knew that it was going to be pretty crazy and pretty challenging but nobody knew exactly how challenging until we lived through it,” said Braz. “And I can say that the addition of Danny to the support staff and being able to work with him has been a huge help and he’s brought so much.”

“Adam had the experience from last year but, I don’t think, the preparedness for this season because it all happened at the same time,” recalled Pozzi. “There were five guys coming on the 11th or 12thand another four guys on the 13th of January so we had a lot of work to do.”

“The most important thing is for the player to feel settled as quickly as possible. “ Braz offered. “Once a player feels settled, and we’ve seen it firsthand, for some it’s a quicker process than for others but the minute that process is finished and they feel settled, their families feel settled, you can tell that they’re more themselves and they’re happier and it shows on the field because they have less stress. Our main role is to get this done as quickly as possible and have everything sorted out so that they can just focus on what they need to do on the field.”

A tool developed to familiarize incoming additions was a dossier that gave detailed information on Montreal and its many neighbourhoods.

“One thing we did as a club was prepare a Welcome Book for any new person, whether they be coach or player that really went through a ton of details. It had a little summary of what each neighbourhood brings and guys live in different parts of the city.” said Braz.

“What helped is that our equipment manager is a real estate agent. Aldo (Ricciuti) spent a lot of the preseason trips on the internet looking at apartments,” Pozzi said.

“Looking back I think that was one of the most challenging aspects of the guys coming in because of the fact that they came in and then we basically had three trips. As you know, and most Montrealers know, the winter months are tough when it comes to finding a place. Not much is available. You’re dealing with snowstorms and a limited time in Montreal.” Braz continued.

“That was challenging but everyone in the support staff took the initiative to try to help do what they could to show guys places. Aldo was leading the line there but everybody pitched in. Everyone is settled now and happy with the places they have and kind of immersing themselves in Montreal culture.”

Assuring work permits for both the players and their spouses is another responsibility that gets taken care of by the Impact support staffers. For American players coming in, things are pretty straight-forward and usually go smoothly.

“With players from some other countries we have to get Canadian visas. We set them up with U.S. visas as well because, three-quarters of the time, we’re playing in the US. Because the husband is here on a work permit, we’re able to get the work permit for their spouse. There are a few who have already got jobs and some of the others are looking but they all have the permit, just in case they do want to work.”

Players are covered by Quebec regulations in case of injury but they and their families are not registered with the province’s public medical system; their health care needs are taken care of through league-based insurers.

“They have a regular insurance like most people have through their companies and they also have a provincial replacement which is a replacement for everything Medicare covers. They can use either system — the public or private,” said Pozzi.

Any obligations assumed by players leaving the Impact are matters they and their new team have to work out. And the Impact does the same for the players coming in.

“We dealt with that times 28 when we picked up all these guys at the expansion draft,” said Pozzi. “The same rules apply as if they’d been traded so we dealt with breaking leases on apartments, car leases.”

“It’s not easy,” Braz interjected. “You’re dealing with moving companies, shipping cars over the border. There’s a lot that goes into it that you don’t see but there are a lot of details to be taken care of.”

Organizing team travel is another area that falls under their purview. Some of the arrangements are made exclusively by the club itself while others are made through the MLS head office.

“We set up all the team’s preseason travel, from A to Z, “ said Braz. “When it comes to the regular season it’s all run through the league but we’re the two guys who have to make sure everything is taken care of as planned.”

“We still have to book our own flights,” added Pozzi.

“And with flights it’s not as simple as choosing which one you want. We sat together with the MLS travel agent and went through all the possible flights and then we have to deal with the coach in terms of what he wants and what fits in terms of the number of seats so it’s a pretty interesting and complicated process,” Braz concluded.

Braz and Pozzi also take care of administering and distributing the daily meal money that players receive when out of town.

“We submit everything to the finance department and they kind of get it back to us but then we basically hand it out. The per diem depends on how many team meals we have on the road because it’s a substitute for when we’re not going to be having a team meal, said Braz. “That’s something that’s discussed with the coaching staff.”

The needs of visiting teams while in Montreal, their lodging requirements aside, are met by the Impact support staff as well.

“We, as a club, are responsible for having certain things in place for them at the hotel. We take care of it leading up to the week and then someone goes and takes it over there. They give us their requests if they need a training session and we make sure we schedule it in there for them,” said Braz.

“It’s pretty straightforward. They send you their itinerary, list what they need and when the equipment guy is going to come here and we take care of it internally. The equipment guys do what they have to do, the physios do what they have to do and then Danny and I just manage the logistical part of organizing everything.”

Seeing to the training and material needs of opponents is an activity carried out under a white flag and in the spirit of The Golden Rule.

“Although we haven’t been to all the places or dealt with all the teams in the league yet, from what we’ve seen so far everyone on our end and our level is really fair with each other and we do what we can to help accommodate because we know that travelling is difficult and there are so many challenges on the road that you know that when you go to wherever they’ll take care of you because you’ve done the same for them,” said Braz, not known as a gracious host in his playing days.

“Obviously we want to win and to beat every team but at the same time I think there’s a level of respect when it comes to off the field things”

Just as the other members of the Impact organization lend a hand when things get hairy for the team’s managers, they shoulder a bit more of the load when others are unable to attend to their regular duties. Equipment Manager Ricciuti was handed a one-game suspension for the April 18 match against D.C. United, after being ejected from the Impact’s previous outing for his frankly stated mid-game assessment of the referee’s performance.

“Aldo travelled for the next game but he was not there for the on the bench stuff so he was messaging me when I had to do something. He was watching from above so he’d let me know when this guy needed a jacket or that guy needed a towel,” Braz recalled with a chuckle.

Asked what request threw them for the biggest loop, both men laughed but discretion ruled.

“There have been a few,” admitted Pozzi.

“Some odd phone calls,’ continued Braz. “The trouble is if we say, even anonymously, they’ll know so we’ll just go with ‘no comment.'”

A final query concerned the scope of their duties. Are they the guys in charge of repainting the visiting team’s dressing room the day before a theoretical playoff encounter?

“Uh, no,” said Braz.

“We might give that suggestion some thought,” said a smiling Pozzi.