USL PRO News Release

TAMPA, FL – (Thursday, January 26, 2012) - The 2012 USL PRO Combine presented by Umbro, opens on Thursday afternoon with four days of intense training, testing and scrimmages awaiting the 102 players, 57 of which previously played in the USL PDL, who will convene at IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla. to be scouted by teams from USL PRO, Major League Soccer and others.

Now in its sixth year, the USL PRO Combine has seen almost 150 players go on to earn professional contracts in USL PRO, Major League Soccer and overseas since it began. Among those from the 2011 class that made the jump were current New York Red Bulls goalkeeper Jeremy Vuolo, who spent last season with AC Oulu in Finland after attending the event, and 2011 USL PRO Rookie of the Year Luke Mulholland, who had a standout season for the Wilmington Hammerheads.

Other 2011 alumni included Mark Wiltse (Charleston Battery), George Davis IV (Dayton Dutch Lions), Brock Duckworth (Wilmington Hammerheads) and Andrew Welker (Harrisburg City Islanders), all of whom had a major impact for their USL PRO clubs in 2011.

“We have been delighted to see the success the players that have attended our combine have gone onto in their professional careers,” USL National Technical Director Peter Mellor said. “We hope even more of them will get a similar opportunity to take their game to the next level following this year’s event.”

As in 2011, the opening two sessions of the Combine will be devoted to goalkeeping, with the 12 goalkeepers attending the event being put through their paces by Mellor and a strong team of coaches from across the USL. The full squads will then train and go through physical testing on Friday afternoon before competing in three 80-minute scrimmages on Saturday and Sunday.

With the Combine being held for the first time at the world-renowned IMG Academies, home of the USL PDL’s IMG Bradenton Academics and the U.S. U17 Men’s National Team residency, the players attending the Combine will have outstanding facilities both on and off the field to help them perform at their best.

“Being able to hold the USL PRO Combine at IMG Academies offers so much to our players,” Mellor said. “In addition, the seminars on nutrition and the mental aspects that go into being a professional soccer player we will be holding, in addition to the on-field activities will help prepare them to become a well-rounded professional for years to come.”