The Los Angeles Blues held their annual open tryouts this past weekend, with the team’s coaches assessing participants in six eleven-a-side games and two goalkeeper sessions over the course of two days. The mix of players hoping to catch the eye of Head Coach Charlie Naimo and his staff made for a highly diverse flair, in light of several different continents being represented on the artificial turf field at Fullerton College.
“We are extremely pleased with the energy brought forth by the guys who came out to show us what they have to offer,” Naimo said. “There are a handful of players that stood out to us and that we’ll be in conversations with. If someone is invited into camp, it becomes a question of whether or not he can raise his game to that level. That said, we also have our PDL team, the Pali Blues, and we may well end up suggesting some of the guys to Head Coach Federico Bianchi. We definitely look at Pali as a possible path to the pro team, as Federico’s philosophy includes preparing young players for the next level.”
Pro training will be on hiatus this week to give the coaching staff ample time to sort out recent developments and make some tough decisions. The three sessions leading up to the team’s open tryouts saw impressive performances by several high-profile trialists, all of whom deserve to be on the team, according to Naimo. Unfortunately, the reality of limited roster spots means that a few may not be offered contracts, especially in light of the possibility of players from the open tryouts coming in to provide added competition.
Please find attached some photos from this past weekend’s event and visit www.labluesprosoccer.com for a short video clip.
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