Although consumed by the start of Major League Soccer's preseason, Chivas USA director of football Dennis te Kloese is also keeping an eye on another possible source of talent.
Te Kloese and other Chivas USA officials will soon start sorting through thousands of potential future players when the second Sueno MLS begins on Feb. 15. A year ago, Chivas USA unearthed a talented player in Jorge Flores.
As Flores continues to develop both with the Red-and-White and within the United States youth national team system, he also has helped raise the level of expectations from Chivas USA's staff.
"Now from out of nothing to stepping onto a field in a stadium, it's a pretty good step to be honest," te Kloese said of Flores, who last year entered the competition as a 17-year-old high school senior and part-time church cleaner from Anaheim, Calif. before being discovered. "The expectations we have are a little bit higher. The goal or the idea is to maybe find another Jorge."
Flores won the inaugural Sueno MLS and after having spent time with Chivas USA's under-19 squad, he joined the full side after signing a contract in July. In September, he appeared as a second-half substitute in a league match against New York.
Following the season, Flores was called into the United States under-20 national team and joined the squad for games in South America and Mexico prior to reporting to preseason training camp with Chivas USA.
Through the Sueno MLS tryouts, the club also netted Jose Diaz and Omar Becerra, both of whom played with Chivas USA's squad at Copa Chivas in Guadalajara in January.
Now that the second Sueno MLS is nearing, te Kloese said hopes are high.
"The intentions to do it are really to find somebody who could at one point mean something to us, either with the reserves or the first team," he said. "To go directly from the tryouts to the reserves or the tryouts to maybe first through our youth mix depends on who comes out, where they are, what kind of experience they had before and what kind of history they had a little bit."
Despite netting Flores, most from the initial pool of 2,000 players who tried out a year ago was "far off" from being professional-caliber players, te Kloese said.
"A lot of people underestimate what it takes to be a professional player," te Kloese said. "It starts with great fitness, ability, intelligence, speed and all kinds of things."
But the soccer culture here in the United States gives hope of finding raw talent, he added. With Major League Soccer in its 13th year and true youth development in its infancy, talented players who have yet to have a true opportunity could well be among this year's lot.
In contrast, more developed soccer nations such as the Netherlands and Mexico have yielded little during similar open tryouts, te Kloese said.
"It's a little bit different here with the environment than other countries," te Kloese said. "In Holland once per year we did open tryouts for young kids, but the real good players had already found their way to professional clubs. (With Chivas), once we did a tour in Veracruz, Monterrey, Mexico City but the real good players already were in a professional environment."
Though falling through the cracks in the Netherlands and Mexico might be difficult, such is not the case in the United States.
"It's obviously very different here," he said. "There are not a lot of professional clubs that have youth development. ... That gives us the opportunity to probably look at more talented players. If a lot of clubs in the area or a lot of professional clubs in the country already had youth development systems, it would be harder to find talent. There is still some talent out there which hasn't been given any opportunity."
While there are no guarantees the next Jorge Flores will come from this year's Sueno MLS, the club still will do everything from their end to ensure a positive process. But the hope is that the next Flores signed up in time to participate.
"The approach to an event like this is always as honest ... or as professional as you can do it but you also rely a little bit on the people who were on time to register," te Kloese said. "If a good one wasn't on time, I don't know what to say."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
