The 2016 MLS Combine convened on Thursday, and the nervous excitement among the collection of aspiring young professionals-in-waiting vibrated in the air in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Some 60-plus college athletes have arrived by invitation in South Florida for several days of physical testing, interviews with club staff and, of course, games.
What's at stake? A shot at the MLS SuperDraft (or, perhaps, a slot in USL) — in other words, the culmination of pro dreams after years of physical and emotional toil on and off the pitch.
A small handful of Combine participants can rest slightly more easy, though. Five prospects have already signed Generation adidas contracts, meaning they’ll go through the SuperDraft, but already have a spot secured with one of MLS’ 20 teams. (Generation adidas contracts do not count against an MLS team’s salary budget.)
Near the front of that talented crop is Josh Yaro, a junior defender from Georgetown who was named Big East Defensive Player of the Year. He’s touted by many as a likely No. 1 pick at next week’s SuperDraft in Baltimore, and the internet hype cycle is swirling in full force.
So what’s it like for a college star to actually go through the Combine? We’re keeping up with Josh this week and letting him tell us about it in his own words.
Here’s how his first two days in Fort Lauderdale (Wednesday and Thursday) went down.
I got in last night from Santa Barbara, [California,] which is where I live when I’m not in school. I wanted to get here a day early just to settle in and get to know the place, where to go, just get used to everything.
I checked in early, and the front desk guy told me I had a roommate coming, but I checked in and he wasn’t there. I went to bed at midnight with no one in the room. Then I woke up and turned around, and there was someone in the other bed. I definitely freaked out a little bit!
But later he turned over and I saw his face, and I realized it was someone I had played against before. He [Tsubasa Endoh] actually plays for another team that’s part of a big local rivalry — he plays for Maryland. But we trained a couple summers ago at D.C. United, and he’s a nice kid.
I wasn’t really sure what to expect before I got here. I’ve had friends who have played in the Combine before, and they’ve shared their experience with me, but everyone’s is different. My thing was, “I’m just gonna come and play, and that’s something I love doing.”
The thing I’ve heard about Combine is that it’s not pretty soccer, because you have 11 guys who are playing together as a team, but you don’t know each other or each other’s style of play.
So sometimes it tends to be really chaotic, and everyone here is trying to prove something, so you have everyone flying at each other and all of that. We’ll find out if that’s true or not. If it’s true, it’s gonna be a real interesting scenario.
Since I already have the Generation adidas contract, it helps, but I still want to play well, because I want to live up to the hype and my college career. Being in this environment, there’s a lot of pressure on me, and how I deal with it is going to be really important.
The hype is a little bit crazy, and some of the tweets I get, I don’t know what to say to them. Fans of some teams will tweet at me, like, “Come here, we’ll take care of you,” but I’m sitting here thinking, “Well, it’s not up to me.” I wish I could just go to a team and say, “Pick me,” but that’s not how it goes.
People have been really nice and encouraging; I haven’t had any negative experience so far. It’s a little overwhelming, but at the same time, I’m trying to enjoy it, because you don’t get to feel this often. It’s a special time in my life.
— As told to Arielle Castillo
Source: www.mlssoccer.com