Sports stats



Crystal Palace Announces 2008 Combines

December 5, 2007 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Crystal Palace Baltimore News Release


White Marsh, MD - Crystal Palace USA, the Baltimore/Annapolis area's professional outdoor soccer team is searching for elite players to be a part of their 2008 team. Two player combines will be held in early 2008 at UMBC - the first will run January 25-27 with the second running February 22-24.

"We're expecting some of the top free agents and amateur soccer talent in the country to join us for our combines in Baltimore," said Pete Medd, Club President & Coach. "We're excited about the opportunity and we take this process very seriously. We had massive success from our combine last year"

In advance of their inaugural season in 2007, Crystal Palace USA held a similar player combine and ended up signing a total of four players as a result of the weekend tryouts. All four saw action during the season and three of the four suited up against Crystal Palace's parent club in the UK at the highly-publicized friendly played at legendary Selhurst Park in October.

Bryan Harkin started the entire year at center mid for the Eagles while previously he was coaching local women's college soccer at Mt. St Mary's. Bryan was a standout performer in the midfielder in London against their English "millionaire" Palace counterparts. Shintaro Harada traveled the furthest distance to tryout, coming over from Tokyo, Japan and went on to get All-League honors as a center back / center midfielder. Alex Ughiovhe of Washington D.C. spent his college days at Howard University and was with the Chicago Fire the previous year. Alex started most of the season in the back and ended the season with a couple of "Team of the Week" honors in the USL. Larry Mark, also of Washington DC, scored a few timely goals for the Eagles and was a valuable asset coming off the bench in '07. Larry played college locally at American University.

"Realistically, we're looking to fill one or two roster spots as a result of these combines," said Jim Cherneski, Crystal Palace USA Sporting Director & Coach. "We only lost two of our last 16 games in 2007 and we feel very confident going into 2008 with the vast majority of our nucleus returning."

Over 200 athletes from across the country and around the world are expected to converge on the campus of UMBC to battle it out for a shot at their dream of playing football professionally.

Please visit the CPFC website for fees, application, hotel information, directions and schedules: crystalpalaceusa.com

• Discuss this story on the United Soccer League Championship message board...

United Soccer League Championship Stories from December 5, 2007


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Crystal Palace Baltimore Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central