Preseason doesn't officially begin until later this month for 2006 MLS Western Conference regular season champion FC Dallas, but the Hoops coaches will be in full preseason mode this weekend as FCD will host their own player combine at Pizza Hut Park.
From the time they announced plans for the event just a short time ago, the club has received more than 500 applications and countless others through alternative methods, including DVDs of prospective players wanting to join the Hoops.
For FCD assistant coach Marco Ferruzzi and the rest of the Hoops coaches, the motivation for this weekend's events are simple.
"We had been getting serious inquiries from a lot of players overseas who were trying to get into the league," he said. "Creating an event for them so that we can take a serious look at some players who could get into the league was the idea behind this. We didn't want a mass tryout that usually doesn't amount to anything and is more of a PR thing than anything else."
The combine will begin Saturday at 10 a.m. CT with the morning session concluding around noon. Ferruzzi and the other FCD coaches will convene an afternoon session at 3:30 p.m. with a full-side game that will wrap up around 5 o'clock. On Sunday, there will be another full-side game at 10 a.m. to close out the event.
Ferruzzi was impressed with the diverse pool of applicants who expressed interest in the combine.
"A pretty high percentage of them played in college," he said. "We have some guys from Division III schools. There are some regional guys, some from the PDL and some who have dropped out of MLS and are looking to get back in, like Ricky Lewis. We had some guys from USL [First Division] apply and also some college seniors who were left out of the combine."
Should one or possibly several players impress Ferruzzi and the rest of the FCD coaches, their timetable to make a decision about whether or not to bring them in for preseason with the first team will be short.
"We would have to decide pretty quickly because we are starting our preseason soon," Ferruzzi said. "If we're interested in someone, it would make sense that we get them involved with the rest of our players as soon as possible before preseason starts."
Ferruzzi and the Hoops coaches come into the weekend with a great deal of optimism about what they might see.
"We have big expectations for it," he said. "We have put a lot of effort into it and hopefully something comes out of it. This is an identification process. I think we're going to get something useful out of this. We're going to get more out of this than other tryouts that are going on."
The idea of FCD having their own player combine is not a new concept but it is only now that it has come to fruition.
"We (the coaches) have all kicked it around for a long time," Ferruzzi said. "Once the season is rolling, you have no time to do this. You constantly get material from players and agents and have no time to fit it in. We can't go scout games during the season. I think there will be some surprises out there and hopefully, some of them develop."
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
