Stars announce Arizona Combine

Minnesota Stars FC is following its first-ever combine for local players with its first-ever out of state tryout. The club announced Thursday that it would hold a combine March 2-4 at Grande Sports World in Casa Grande, Ariz.

Grande Sports World will host the combine with Stars FC coaches in attendance to conduct the tryout. The cost of entry is $300. To apply, players must submit their résumé or CV to Freddy Juarez, fjuarez@grandesports.com, to get the registration process starting. The out-of-state combine will give Stars FC coaches further opportunities to evaluate talent that is unable to travel to Minnesota for a tryout.

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“This is a big first for the club, and we’re excited for the chance to work with Grande Sports World to get a chance to find players in the Southwest and Southern California areas,” said Stars FC head coach Manny Lagos.

Grande Sports World boasts nine soccer fields on its 40 acre campus, which also features 58,000 square feet of indoor space for fitness and conditioning, meetings, physical therapy and rehabilitation as well as an adjacent hotel and golf course. The facility is home of RSL-AZ, the youth academy of Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake. It has also hosted important youth tournaments and has served as the preseason training home of 14 of MLS’s 19 clubs and several MLS and North American Soccer League combines.

“Everything’s there for teams—fields, hotel, meeting space—to have successful camps and combines,” said Tim Alai, general manager of Grande Sports World. “This is the best environment to test players in multiple capacities and see players Stars FC wouldn’t see otherwise from the Southwest, Southern California and even the Pacific Northwest.”

Stars FC’s Arizona combine will wrap up a two-month period of tryouts for the team. The club drew 25 local players to a one-day combine in January. The club will also hold an invitational combine February 20-23 at the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minn. Participants interested in attending the February combine in Minnesota should email tryouts@mnstarsfc.com.