Nearly 100 young soccer players came together Saturday at Delmar Stadium, located at 2020 Mangum, as part of other participation in the preliminary tryouts held by HOUSTON 1836, the local Hispanic Leagues, and STYSA (South Texas Youth Association).
The tryouts were held in order to select the best 36 players that could possibly fill two of the developmental squad positions. All 36 players will be moving on to round two, which will take place this coming Saturday, February 19 in front of HOUSTON 1836 Head Coach Dominic Kinnear.
The young players affiliated to different Hispanic Leagues such as "Los Galaxticos", "Escuela Cruz Azul", "Deportivo Pereira"; as well as STYSA and HFA (Houston Football Association); gave it all they had at the field to make their dreams come true.
"I'm very satisfied to be part of this. I actually was able to play professional soccer back in Colombia; and I'm very proud of having the possibility to do so again. Once you are involved with soccer, you don't ever want to quit", said David Baez, one of the 36 selected players.
For other aspiring professional soccer players, soccer runs in their family; just like the Salvadorian player Edgar Alvarez, whose older brother plays for the professional Major League Soccer team, FC Dallas.
"This is my dream, and hopefully if I don't make it now, I would do so after college", said Alvarez who expressed to be a fan of Eddie Johnson, forward for FC Dallas.
Another one of the selected players, Honduran national Wilson Buesel, said to be more than ready to perform in front of the HOUSTON 1836 coaching staff.
"I have played professionally for teams in Mexico and Honduras, and for me it would be a dream come true to be able to join our professional soccer team in Houston".
The selected players will be called back for a second tryout session this Sunday February 19; this time in front of Head Coach Dominic Kinnear and the rest of his coaching staff.
Details about time and location will be released later on the week.
SELECTED PLAYERS
Luís Ángel Faz
Santos Abigail Álvarez
Edgar Álvarez
Eric Martínez
Jonathan Giraldo
Sebastián Castilla
Anthony Shiofu
José Galván
Chad Butano
Dorian Fonseca
Roy Hernández
Ricardo Ortiz
Denis Umanzor
Julio Guevara
Octavio López
Enrique Carrasco
Michael Olabarrieta
Lucas Fuentes
Benjamín Gilmore
Joelle Daniel
Roberto Jaramillo
Rogelio Rosas
Jaime Gamez
Alfonso Moralez
Matt Walden
David Báez
Buesel Wilson
Fernando Bolaños
Ruben Mecedo
Eric Dominguez
Cornelio Plancarte
Mike Santos
David Gudino
Saul Chicas
Joshua Leverman
Fernando Jorge
