SALT LAKE CITY - Real Salt Lake, Major League Soccer's 12th team, invites media, fans and season-ticket holders to attend the organization's MLS SuperDraft Party this Friday, January 14 at the SkyBox Sports Grille & Arena at the Gateway. Real Salt Lake General Manager Steve Pastorino and Head Coach John Ellinger will be in Baltimore, Maryland to select the No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft. RSL also currently holds rights to overall picks #13 and #37, after dealing the overall #25 pick to Chicago on December 30 as part of the deal that brought forward Dipsy Selolwane and midfielder Evan Whitfield to Salt Lake.
Major League Soccer's 2005 SuperDraft will be carried LIVE on Fox Sports World at 10 a.m. MT and is expected to last between 60-90 minutes. At the event, RSL fans will have the opportunity to witness the MLS SuperDraft including Real Salt Lake No. 1 pick and interact with Real Salt Lake management. MLS broadcast partner Fox Sports World will carry the first hour of the draft live, with MLS Wrap co-host Sean Wheelock leading coverage on-site in Baltimore along with longtime international and MLS television analyst Allen Hopkins. </p>
On Saturday, Real Salt Lake will introduce the #1 pick locally at 11:30 a.m. MT. Real Salt Lake players and executives will be available at the grand opening of Zions Bank' newest "Su Banco Hispanic Branch" located at 1635 S. Redwood Road in West Valley City. At the event, fans will have the opportunity to meet the No.1 pick as well as RSL goalkeeper D.J. Countess. There will also be an opportunity to purchase Real Salt Lake merchandise and ticket packages for the 2005 RSL season, which kicks off Saturday, April 2 in New York against the MetroStars.</p>
Last year's MLS SuperDraft featured No. 1 selection Freddy Adu (D.C. United), Crew starting defender Chad Marshall (No. 2), 2004 Gatorade Rookie of the Year and New England Revolution midfielder Clint Dempsey (No. 8) and Jeff Parke, the last selection in the SuperDraft (No. 60) who proceeded to start 27 games with the MetroStars, bashing any "Mr. Irrelevant" claims.</p>
Preparations continue for the inaugural season of Real Salt Lake, kicking off in April, 2005. More information on the club can be found on the team's official website at www.RealSaltLake.com or by calling 1-866-9-SOCCER. The 2005 MLS SuperDraft Rules and Regulations, as well as the current selection order, follow: </p>
2005 MLS SUPERDRAFT RULES OF ENGAGEMENT / SELECTION ORDER
Draft Rounds: The draft will include four (4) rounds and 48 overall selections.
If a team passes on a selection, it forfeits participation in any manner for the remainder of the draft.
Selection Clock: Teams are permitted five (5) minutes to make a selection in the First and Second Rounds. Teams are permitted three (3) minutes to make a selection in the Third and Fourth Rounds.
Intermissions: There will be a five (5) minute break between each Round.
Timeouts: Each team is permitted only one (1) timeout. Timeouts are five (5) minutes in duration. Selections must be made immediately following the timeout (no additional time given). No more than two teams can call consecutive timeouts.
Failure to Make Selection in Designated Time: Teams that fail to make their selection in time must wait until the next selection is made, regardless if their choice is presented prior to the next team's decision. The team that was delinquent with its selection must immediately have its choice in hand following the selection of the team that follows. If not, the original team must again wait for the next selection to be made.
Trades: Prior to being announced, trades must be verified and approved by the League Commissioner or his designee.
The order of picks in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft is as follows:
ROUND 1
1 Real Salt Lake
2 CD Chivas USA
3 Chicago
4 FC Dallas
5 San Jose
6 Los Angeles (from MET)
7 Colorado
8 Los Angeles (from CLB)
9 New England
10 Los Angeles
11 Kansas City
12 D.C. United
ROUND 2
13 Real Salt Lake
14 CD Chivas USA
15 FC Dallas (from CHI)
16 Colorado (from FCD)
17 San Jose
18 Chicago (from MET)
19 Colorado
20 Columbus (from COL, CLB)
21 New England
22 Los Angeles
23 Columbus (from KC)
24 Kansas City (from DC)
ROUND 3
25 Chicago (from RSL as part of the Selolwane/Whitfield trade)
26 CD Chivas USA
27 FC Dallas (from CHI)
28 KC (from FCD)
29 San Jose
30 San Jose (from MET)
31 Colorado
32 San Jose (from CLB)
33 Kansas City (from NE)
34 Los Angeles
35 Chicago (from KC)
36 Kansas City (from DC)
ROUND 4
37 Real Salt Lake
38 CD Chivas USA
39 Chicago
40 FC Dallas
41 Colorado (from SJ)
42 San Jose (from MET)
43 Colorado
44 Columbus
45 New England
46 Los Angeles
47 Kansas City
48 D.C. United
