On January 21, in the bubble at Complexe Multi-Sport-de Laval, FC Supra du Québec players stepped on the pitch together for the first time.
Day one of the team's inaugural training camp was yet another milestone moment years in the making for the CPL's newest club.
In the weeks since, they have hit the road, travelling to Toronto take on OPL side Scrosoppi FC, before heading state-side to play the New York Red Bulls and New York Cosmos.
As he rode on the team bus at the conclusion of the six-day trip to New York, head coach Nick Razzaghi reflected on the first stage of his club's Training Camp, presented by WestJet — and how special it has been to see his group in action together for the first time.
"It's been awesome," he told CPLSoccer.com. "It's been really cool to just see everybody out there, get a bit of a feel for what this could look like down the road, and to start to get to know each other on and off the field."
This part of the camp has, evidently, been about strengthening the bonds of the 17 players the club has already signed to its inaugural roster. But with several trialists among their ranks, looking to make the final squad, it has been a crucial stretch of evaluation as well.
Having served as head coach of CS St-Laurent in Ligue1 Québec for the past few seasons, Razzaghi knows full well how many good players there are in the province. But even he has been impressed by the diamonds that this pre-season has unearthed.
"What's stood out to us is the quality, real talents that we have," said Razzaghi. "The talent pool that we have, and for everyone to see that there's a lot of good Quebecois players, even more than we all thought, even some of them that maybe have never been talked about."
The more well-known members of his squad, meanwhile, be they former CPL champions David Choinière and Aboubacar Sissoko, or league veterans like Sean Rea and Diyaeddine Abzi, have been critical to setting the early standard.
"Already they've been very helpful in terms of their experience and their professionalism," said Razzaghi, "They've already been able to set a good tone for the rest of the team. Going forward, we're counting on them to bring those qualities."
At the centre of it all, of course, is the team's ethos.
"What we're building is personal to all of us," he said. "That's most important. This is a lot bigger than each one of us, from top to bottom, we all understand that it's a team for everybody D'ici, pour ici, which is from here, for here.
"Maybe not everybody knows exactly what Quebec is about, and we are able to put that on display by our actions on the field, by the way we carry ourselves off the field, we want to be able to show everybody this is who we are. We represent this, and we're proud of it."
That extends to the style of football that Razzaghi is already seeing his team play, and what he wants to implement in the club's first season.
"At the end of the day, we're going to represent ourselves the best we can," said Razzaghi. "Quebecois players have a lot of flair, we have a lot of mobility, we're going to try to use it. But we also have a lot of grinta and desire to work."
Grinta, a Spanish term meaning grit, is something that everyone at Supra has embodied as they build this fledgling club from the ground up. All of that grind, in particular, will feel worth it when the team plays its home opener on April 19 against Atlético Ottawa at CEPSUM Stadium.
"That's probably the biggest thing I'm looking forward to, is having all the fans there, having the excitement," said Razzaghi. "Having everyone be able to watch their friends play, having everyone behind us.
"Seeing everyone come there, and be happy to be there, that'll be the most special thing."
For now, FC Supra players will briefly go their separate ways before regrouping in March for the final sprint to their inaugural match on April 11 against Pacific at Starlight Stadium. That, says Razzaghi, is when things are truly going to start to feel real, with the intensity reaching yet another level.
