Ontario Fury Acquire Rights To Toros Mexico Franchise
September 10, 2014 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
Ontario Fury News Release
The Ontario Fury, Driven by Mark Christopher Chevrolet, have come to terms on the purchase of the Toros Mexico arena soccer franchise to serve as an official developmental team for the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) franchise.
Toros Mexico, based in Tijuana, Mexico, had fielded a team in the Professional Arena Soccer League during the 2013-14 season. The team, however, was going to be unable to make the move into the MASL due to new facility requirements.
As part of the arrangement, Joe Pollard - who was the owner and head coach of Toros Mexico - will become the assistant coach for the Fury, and will continue to oversee operations of the Toros, which will field a team in the PASL-Premier winter season.
"We are more than excited and proud to announce the addition of Joe to our coaching staff and Toros Mexico to the Fury family," said Bernie Lilavois, the Fury's president and coach. "Having this very, very good developmental team under our watch will help us, over time, identify and develop new talent for our professional roster. Joe's passion for soccer and developing players is exactly what we are all about. To now have him work in our organization is huge and will help us reach our goal of being the best franchise in this league in no time."
Pollard, who is bilingual, said that the relationship between the Toros and Fury will be a perfect marriage for both sides, allowing Mexican players the chance to be seen by teams in the United States and giving local fans players from Mexico to root for with the Fury.
"Here in Mexico, futbol - soccer - it's almost a religion. It is to some people," Pollard said. "There's so many good, young men -- talented young men throughout Mexico. And we've got the biggest gateway border crossing in the world. In California, more specifically the Inland Empire, the area the Fury are in, there's so many people with Hispanic roots, roots from Mexico. It's a great opportunity for them to get involved."
The Fury and Toros new partnership will begin immediately with invitation only tryouts and workout sessions at the Toros' facility in Tijuana this weekend with the intention of finding players who will be invited to the Fury's training camp, which will begin Oct. 1 and the first-ever game for Toros Mexico under the Fury reign with an exhibition game versus the San Diego Sockers at 8 p.m. Oct. 18 at Valley View Casino Center in San Diego.
"We have less than two months to prepare a team, if that," Pollard said. "We need to get moving now to see what talent we have down here. Even though I'm going to be stepping down as head coach, I'm thrilled to be an assistant to Bernie, we're all going to be part of the same team now. We want to help Bernie be successful and the Fury be successful and give our all. And we've got a lot of young men who would be excited about being on that team. So we want to see if they fit into Bernie's game plan, and who we've got here that can make the transition."
The Fury will open its preseason schedule Oct. 12 with an exhibition game against the Las Vegas Knights as part of a doubleheader at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Ontario will open the home part of its schedule with an exhibition game against the Mexican National Indoor Soccer team Oct. 19 at Citizens Business Bank Arena. The exhibition will be part of a doubleheader that will also include a game between the United States National Indoor Soccer team and the Las Vegas Legends.
Tickets for the two games are on sale now, and start at $10 per person, which is good for both games. Doors for the two games at noon, with the US-Las Vegas game starting at 1 p.m., and the Fury-Mexico game set for 3 p.m.
Season tickets for the Fury also are available starting at $90 per seat for the 11-game home schedule, which includes the preseason doubleheader. Season ticket holders get special perks, which includes free parking, special season ticket holder events and discounts on Fury merchandise.
For information about individual, group or season tickets for the 2014-15 season, contact the Fury at 909-457-0252, or go to OntarioFury.com.
Major Arena Soccer League Stories from September 10, 2014
- Ontario Fury Acquire Rights To Toros Mexico Franchise - Ontario Fury
- Tom Mellor Returns to Harrisburg Heat - Harrisburg Heat
- Tulsa Revolution Release Schedule - Tulsa Revolution
- Dallas Sidekicks to Hold Open Tryouts for 2014-15 Season - Dallas Sidekicks
- Sockers 2014-15 MASL Schedule Released - San Diego Sockers
- La Fiera Open 2014-15 Season at Home against Division Opponent - Hidalgo La Fiera
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