For young soccer players in Portland who watched the Timbers win the MLS Cup last season, they probably dream of doing the same thing one day. For six of those young players, they will get a head start on that dream this weekend.
In a first for soccer-crazy Portland, the Rose City is joining the coast-to-coast Sueño MLS talent competition to find North America’s best up-and-coming player and award him a spot on an MLS academy team.
It will work like this: With Timbers players such as MLS Cup-winning defender Alvas Powell on-hand, the search arrives in Portland this Saturday, April 16 and Sunday, April 17 as 400 young players are expected to compete for a shot to advance to the final in Los Angeles.
Saturday will start with the full field competing in front of Timbers academy coaches and scouts from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. PT at Lents Park in southeast Portland. Later in the day, Timbers 2 players Irving Garcia & Steve Palacios will join.
By the end of the first day’s tryouts, coaches and scouts will narrow down the field down to 22 field players and three goalkeepers, who will be invited back for a longer tryout on Sunday at Providence Park, the home of the Timbers. That will go from 9:30 a.m. to around 1 p.m. PT, when six finalists to advance. Powell will join for the middle of the day.
The tryouts are open to all boys between 13 and 16 and players can still register online on a first-come, first-serve basis. Unregistered players are also welcome to register as walk-ups in-person if they are unable to pre-register online.
In addition to the tryouts, Sueño MLS will host a free public goalkeeping clinic on Saturday, April 16, between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. PT.
The six Portland finalists – five field players and one goalkeeper – will win a ticket to the Sueño MLS National Finals in Los Angeles from May 4-7, along with finalists from New York and Los Angeles. The competition’s winner will be announced live on the popular Univision sports show República Deportiva on May 22.
For the young players in Portland, there is a very familiar success story from Sueño MLS – Jorge Villafaña, who played a prominent role in helping the Timbers win the 2015 MLS Cup, won his first academy contract through the competition as a young teen. Other notable past winners include Monterrey forward Rogelio Funes Mori, and his brother, Everton FC defender Ramiro Funes Mori. The competition is now in its 10th year.
Sueño MLS Portland details:
- Saturday, April 16 – 7:30 a.m. to about 4 p.m. (Lents Park – 9000 SE Holgate Blvd., Portland, OR 97266)
- Sunday, April 17 – 9:30 a.m. to about 12 p.m. (Providence Park – 1844 SW Morrison St., Portland, OR 97205)
- Registration: Online but walk-ups allowed
