Union Home Kit.

Things are coming along very nicely in Chester, PA currently for Major League Soccer's newest expansion club. Since my last update back in September, the stadium has come on leaps and bounds with being close to 50% complete, open tryouts in New Jersey have just taken place, the home kit has just been shown to the public officially with the jerseys making their way to retail stores by the end of this week and the first three opponents of the Union have been announced.

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The Wizards season is over, and the indoor season for the KC Kings is gearing up. The two time defending Midwest Regional Champions and runner up at the PASL International Finals last year, Kings will be hosting tryouts on Wednesday, November 25th at the KC Soccer Dome. Registration starts at 12:30. Click to continue reading...

Forgot to make this post yesterday, but Wizards head athletic trainer, Chet North has been named MLS Athletic Trainer of the Year. Thad over at The Back Post has a great interview up with North that you can check out as well.
North is the only person with the Wizards organization who has been there since the first season 14 years ago. Click to continue reading...

Open Tryouts for Dynamo's Next Commercial:

Do you want to be on television and tell the country why you love your Dynamo? Well, this is your chance! The Houston Dynamo announced that open tryouts for their next television commercial will be held on June 20th, between 11 a.m.

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Open House style training session for U9-U14 players to be held June 16th & June 22nd 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM at Ozark High School grass soccer field. All players need to bring a ball and water.

Registration starts at 6:00pm. Club information will be handed out and parents are encouraged to ask questions at the end of the session.

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Earlier today I had the pleasure of speaking with Juan Carlos Hernandez Jr., Vice President, and Cuauhtemoc Rios, Assistant Coach of the Houston Leones. As you know, the Leones are members of the Premier Development League, which is a division of the United Soccer League.

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div style="text-align: justify;"As many of you saw a href="http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/1081318.html"yesterday in the KC Star/a, Adam Cristman will be out for some time with a fractured toe (the same toe that Chance fractured). His recovery time is expected to be 12 weeks. We'll give you more information on Adam's health/recovery as we get it. Click to continue reading...

Thad over at The Back Post was out at practice today getting more pictures of the team as it continues to prepare for the start of the season on the 21st against Toronto. While there, he got pictures of a couple new faces out at practice that would appear to be open tryout participants that are getting the chance to train with the team. Click to continue reading...

DJ Forrest (left) with Larry the Cable Guy and friends.
David Streeter of the Topeka Capital Journal checks in on his blog with a story of local DJ Forrest of V100, Topeka's Rock Leader. Forrest grew up a soccer player and soccer fan and trained extensively for his chance to make a professional roster. Click to continue reading...

Hillcrest Road has posted a quick recap of this past weekend's open tryouts. They have a good link to the list of players that made Day 2 of the tryouts. Some of the local players were able to advance to day two and some of the guys that I'd looked up elsewhere also made it. According to the Hillcrest Road link, about 10 of the players that participated in day 2 will be invited back to train with the first team at some time. Click to continue reading...

Local product Austin Williams, formerly #9 for William Jewell College.
After signing two players from open tryouts last year, the level of play at this weekend's open tryout was quite good. Read Cole Young's story on the tryout here, and see the list of players who made day 2 here.
Young mentioned two players, Austin Williams of WJC and Chad Becker, a goalkeeper who played at Rockhurst University and was mentioned here at Hillcrest Road a while back. Click to continue reading...

The Wizards open tryouts are over for another year, and the Wizards coaching staff have some decisions to make on whether or not to invite players back to train with the team. Unfortunately the page on the Wizards website never showed up right, so I was unable to see the names of players that made it to day two. Click to continue reading...

So the Wizards have invited back 50 people for Day 2 of tomorrows open tryouts. They tried to post the list of those players online, but when you click on the link, all it does is take you to a blank web page. So unfortunately I am unable to provide you with a list of the open tryout participants that have made day 2 of the tryouts. Click to continue reading...

Went out to the Wizards open tryouts today to check out the guys that had come to tryout for the Wizards. Overall, it appeared that there were quite a few no shows, as the team had 4 fields set up for the first session for 8 teams to play on, but there were only 3 in use when I got there. For the second session there were only 2 fields in use, so plenty of players appear to have decided that it wasn't worth it for them to show up for the tryouts. Click to continue reading...

Some participants at last year's open tryout.
Open tryouts start tomorrow at 9 a.m. at our Swope Park Training Center and conclude Sunday with 60 players competing to potentially make the Wizards roster. As you know, Kevin Souter and Nelson Pizarro eventually signed with the club last year after initially impressing at an open tryout held in February. Click to continue reading...

Since I found the list of the open tryout participants for the tryouts next weekend at the Wizards training facility, I've spent some time looking up basically all the players that were listed, trying to find out where certain participants have played previously. I've found quite a few of the players that are going to be at the open tryouts. Click to continue reading...

The list of players participating in this years open tryouts with the Wizards has now come out. The list has 181 players on it. Those players have been divided into 16 teams. Next Saturday the teams will compete in 7v7 games starting at 9am out at the Wizards training facility in Swope Park. Those players will then be cut down to 60 players who will be invited back for the second day. Click to continue reading...

The deadline for the Wizards open tryouts on March 7th and 8th is tomorrow, so if you're still wanting to get in, you better sign up quick. Unfortunately I have had to drop the idea of participating in this years tryouts due to multiple issues. First is the obvious money issue, the $205 is $205 I can spend elsewhere (like on a roadtrip this season for a game). Click to continue reading...

Chad Becker nearly wasn't a 'keeper at all, he'll be at our Open Tryout in March.
Our second game of the season makes Jeff Bradley's First XI list of top games of the first three months of the season. He says that our trip to Colorado highlights two teams that will need to show early this year whether they are (in our case) a contender or (in Colorado's case) a playoff-caliber team. Click to continue reading...

With the Wizards open tryouts coming out in March, I now know one of the people I'll be competing with at the tryouts this year, Bermudan international, Sammy DeGraff. DeGraff played last season with the Bermuda Hogges of USL-2, playing in 13 games and getting 2 assists in those games. DeGraff turned down a trial in Brazil with E. Click to continue reading...

The vote was never much in doubt either here or on Hillcrest Road, but both votes are now over. Of the 176 votes 147 were in favor of me trying out for the team this year. So I'll be out there March 7th for the tryouts ready to make a bit of a fool of myself and get graded by some players. If anyone is interested in donating to help me cover the cost of the entry fee, you can email me. Click to continue reading...

Conrad Kuhn posing with Santa Claus at Saturday's Wizards Wonderland event.
Made you look. The results are in and Mike Kuhn, father of Conrad Kuhn and author of Down the Byline, has to try out for the 2009 Wizards and let some players rate his performance. This should be fun. Give your best guess as the ranking they will give our blog-writing friend in the comments section below. Click to continue reading...

With only one day down, it seems the voting already has clinched that Mike will participate in the Open Tryout. Congrats to you buddy, we're also trying to get a couple of media people to join you. That should really be interesting. Jake Gutierrez anyone?
It's the offseason now, so we're starting to reconsider everything about everything in the front office. Click to continue reading...

The Kansas City Wizards have announced that they are going to be having open tryouts again this year. The Wizards are hoping to duplicate the success that they had last year with their open tryouts, when the team signed two players from the open tryouts, Kevin Souter and Nelson Pizarro. Both Souter and Pizarro got time in MLS games this year, with Souter being the most successful, scoring a goal in 7 league games this past year. Click to continue reading...

If Mike signs up for the open tryout, he could be playing on that field next season.
Last year, Mike of Down the Byline came to the open tryout and rated some of the players he saw. Read his ratings and see Kevin Souter in that second picture he posted. At the time, Kuhn told me how he would likely have tried out, but his knee wouldn't allow it. Click to continue reading...

Souter on the field against Guillermo Barros Schelotto and the Crew in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Ever wanted to be a Wizard? No, not the Dungeons and Dragons type but the type that wears the blue and white. Well this may be your chance.
Courtesy of Hillcrest Road the official blog of the Kansas City Wizards:

Just ask Kevin Souter and Nelson Pizarro, open tryouts work.

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Kevin Souter at last year's open tryout.
Souter just a few weeks later at a pre-season practice.
Souter on the field against Guillermo Barros Schelotto and the Crew in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Just ask Kevin Souter and Nelson Pizarro, open tryouts work. Last season, each player showed enough while competing against over 200 other hopefuls that the Wizards eventually signed them to contracts. Click to continue reading...

Fancy yourself a footballer? Got what it takes to play in MLS? Well then the Seattle Sounders may want you. It is not uncommon for MLS clubs to have open tryouts but this one has a twist. It will be filmed for a reality TV series.
Here's the mailing be sent out by the Sounders. Thanks to the reader who forwarded to us:

Sounders FC to Host Open Tryouts in November
Winner will be awarded a roster spot on inaugural squad

Seattle Sounders FC will host open tryouts in Spokane, Tukwila and Yakima during the month of November.

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First off, the U.S. Women defeated Japan 1-0 overnight at the Olympics.

USC's Amy Rodriguez got her surprise first start of the Olympics over Natasha Kai. Here's Coach Pia Sundhage on why she made the move:

"The reason for A-Rod instead of Kai was her speed. That was crucial when we looked at the way Japan plays.

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Coach Pia Sundhage will announce the roster in a teleconference at noon today, although few, if any, surprises are expected.

The roster is likely to be virtually unchanged from the just-concluded Peace Cup, which means Torrance's Shannon Boxx, USC's Amy Rodriguez and UCLA Lauren Cheney are anticipated to head to China.

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Missouri Ozarks FC will be holding open tryouts on June 20 at 6:00 P.M. and June 21 at 1:00 P.M. at the soccer field at the middle school in Neosho, MO. All ages from 6-16 are invited and you do not have to be a resident of Neosho to tryout. Players from Neosho, Joplin, Webb City, Carthage, Carl Junction and surrounding areas are invited to come learn about this new club aimed at offering competitive soccer in the far Southwest region.

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It looks like the Columbus Crew are none too happy with the Wizards signing of open tryout participant, Kevin Souter. Souter had a year of eligibility left at Graceland University before he signed a developmental deal with the Wizards earlier this week. The Crew, who had been looking at Souter as well, believed that him not having gone through the draft like other college players with eligibility left, should have made him ineligibly to play in MLS. Click to continue reading...

Hello everyone, just wanted to give you a heads up on two transactions. Midfielders Nelson Pizarro and Kevin Souter are in for midfielder Amir Lowery and defender Yomby William. Both Pizarro and Souter were first seen at the open tryout back in February at KC Sports Lodge. As you know, Souter went on to Argentina with the team and has been training with us since. Click to continue reading...

Hillcrest Road is reporting the first success from this past weekends open tryouts. The team has invited Kevin Souter to join the team for training and go to Brazil with the team as well. Souter was part of the Graceland University team that won the NAIA National Championship in 2006. He was a 2nd team All-American this past year and Honorable Mention back in 2006. Click to continue reading...

Practice will be held today at noon at our Swope Park Training Center. Hope to see you there. Tomorrow is the last chance to see the team before we resume training in town Tuesday, March 18.
The first round of results from this weekend's open tryouts is now known. Kevin Souter, midfielder from Iowa NAIA school Graceland University will join us tomorrow for training and then accompany the team to Argentina looking for a spot on the 28-man roster. Click to continue reading...