COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Columbus Crew announced today that the club will hold open tryouts for the sixth straight year, on Saturday, May 26, at the Value City Furniture Fields at Easton (4475 Sunbury Road, Columbus, OH 43219). The tryout will last all day, with registration beginning at 7 a.m. and the evening session ending at 6 p.m.
Select members of the Crew coaching staff will be in attendance throughout the day to assess and evaluate the entire player pool. As part of that evaluation process, the coaching staff will reserve the right to dismiss candidates at any time throughout the day. College players will not be eligible to participate in the tryout due to NCAA regulations. There is no pre-registration and all players that are planning to be in attendance must e-mail Crew assistant coach Mike Lapper at mlapper@thecrew.com.
There will be a $100 administrative fee per player, which must be paid in cash only prior to the first training session and will include two (2) tickets to the Crew's game that night against Toronto FC. All net proceeds from participation in the Crew open tryouts will go to the club's charitable arm, the Crew Soccer Foundation.
Individuals wishing to try out are solely responsible for any and all accommodations and transportation they deem necessary. They are also responsible for their own training gear, such as cleats and shin guards and anything else they might need to perform to the best of their abilities. Players must also bring their own ball.
Agenda for Saturday, May 26
**Times are subject to change according to weather and administrative reasons.
SATURDAY'S PRESEASON MATCH VS. INDIANA UNIVERSITY MOVED TO CAPITAL UNIVERSITY
The Crew will play host to perennial national-power Indiana University on Saturday, March 24, in its first exhibition match of the preseason in central Ohio. The Crew and Hoosiers, who share a number of ties, will meet at 11 a.m. at Capital University's Bernlohr Stadium. PLEASE NOTE CHANGE IN VENUE DUE TO FIELD CONDITIONS AT OBETZ.
Indiana advanced to the third round of the NCAA tournament last fall, where it fell to Santa Clara in a penalty-kick shootout, following a 0-0 tie. Current Crew players Ned Grabavoy, Danny O'Rourke and Jed Zayner all played at IU, while Hoosiers assistant coach Todd Yeagley is a former Crew player (1996-2002).
FAN FORUM SET FOR MONDAY, MARCH 26, AT CREW STADIUM'S HUNTINGTON CLUB
The Crew will host one of its popular Fan Forums on Monday, March 26, in Crew Stadium's Huntington Club, at 6 p.m. The panel will be made up of Hunt Sports Group President John Wagner, Crew General Manager Mark McCullers, Head Coach Sigi Schmid and veterans Frankie Hejduk and Duncan Oughton. McCullers will kick off the interactive discussion with a brief outline of the club's current priorities and state of affairs, after which the entire panel will be available for questions.
TWO GAMES ON TAP IN NORTH CAROLINA
The Crew will depart for Winston-Salem, N.C., on Tuesday, March 27, where it will play a pair of games on the campus of Wake Forest University. Columbus will take on the host Demon Deacons on Wednesday, March 28, and the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday, March 31. Game time both nights is 7 p.m.
UPCOMING PRESEASON SCHEDULE
MARCH
24 1 a.m. - Exhibition vs. Indiana University at Capital University
25 OFF
26 10 a.m. - Training
27 Depart for North Carolina
28 10 a.m. - Training; 7 p.m. - vs. Wake Forest University
29 10 a.m. - Training
30 10 a.m. - Training
31 7 p.m. - vs. Kansas City Wizards at Wake Forest
