With the next game for FC Dallas not until Sunday afternoon against the Kansas City Wizards at Pizza Hut Park, Wednesday is an off day in the Hoops' training schedule. As a result, some of the team brass -- head coach Colin Clarke, assistant coach Steve Morrow and general manager Michael Hitchcock -- are taking advantage of the off day and traveling south to Monterrey, Mexico, to visit with FCD's partner club, Tigres UANL.
After meeting with team officials early in the day, the group will watch a game between the Tigres and Jaguares reserves at 4:45 p.m. Then, at 7:45, the Mexican Primera Division club will face Universidad Catolica of Chile in a Copa Libertadores match to close out the day.
Clarke knows what a great opportunity it will be to scout some talent ahead of the July transfer window.
"It's a great opportunity and I'm looking forward to it," he said. "It's not only a chance to go down there, see some of the reserves play and see if there's anything that can possibly be of interest, but also the game in the evening with Copa Libertadores. ... I've heard the atmosphere is great and the setup is wonderful. I'm really looking forward to it and can't wait."
The Hoops general manager agreed with his coach.
"One of the goals of our strategic partnership with Tigres is to identify and exchange players," he said. "For us, one of the primary goals for this trip is to take a look at the first team that will be playing against Catolica tomorrow night in the Copa Libertadores game."
But, Hitchcock also sees the reserve game earlier in the day as an opportunity.
"They've also scheduled a reserve game where their reserve team will play their second division team," he said. "So we have an opportunity to look at some of their guys that aren't getting first-team soccer on a regular basis but are still part of their system and they believe in and feel they're great players with a ton of potential."
He also sees a chance to get an inside look at the entire Tigres operation.
"We're also going to get the opportunity to check out their training grounds, watch their youth teams train and see how they train their young players and the future stars of Tigres," he said. "We're also going to take a look at where we're going to host a week of preseason next year at their training site."
Clarke also sees it as a great way to break up the week.
"It's something different," he said. "It's an opportunity to go down, see one of the top teams in Mexico, have a look at their setup, how they run things, how they do things, and along the way, take in a great game."
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
