LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Louisville City FC welcomed a hardy group of fans to the club’s training ground on Friday as it held its first open practice session.

After building chemistry in the Florida sunshine at IMG Academy over the past two weeks, conditions have been a little more brisk back in Louisville. As the side continues to build toward the new season, Coach James O’Connor is putting an emphasis on strong communication on the field among the players.

“It’s still preseason, we’re still trying to make sure people understand their roles and responsibilities. I think any communication in any team is important,” O’Connor told LouisvilleCityFC.com Insider Quin Welch. “I think it’s important that people can help each other by talking and giving good information.”

Louisville’s time in Florida was marked by relatively few scrimmages against opposition, but according to O’Connor that was by design.

“We go about things a little differently,” O'Connor told the Louisville Courier-Journal’s Jonathan Lintner. “What I didn't want was our training schedule set around tournament games where they'd say you have to play Saturday, Wednesday and Saturday.

“For us, because of the intensity of our work, we needed to be able to just train. It wouldn't be possible for the guys to be able to go and play games with the training we were having.”

City will take on a pair of college opponents in the upcoming week, with a closed-door scrimmage against SIU-Edwardsville set for Saturday, and then a preseason exhibition against the University of Louisville on Thursday. Kickoff at Lynn Stadium is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.