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 With teams in North America and Scandinavia starting to gear up for the 2011 season, we check in on some of Wisconsin's professional players and their prospects for the upcoming year.
Matt Pyzdrowski, Marquette
After spending last season with the Portland Timbers in their final year in the second division before heading to Major League Soccer, the goalkeeper could have a similiar opportunity this season.
Pyzdrowski started a week-long invitational tryout camp with the Montreal Impact of the North American Soccer League on Monday, looking to impress officials from the club that will become the 19th MLS franchise in 2012.
He played in three matches for the Timbers in the USSF Division-2 Pro League in 2010, posting a 0.49 goals-against average with one shutout as the backup to starter Steve Cronin.
Portland traded Cronin to D.C. United in a deal that included presumed starter Troy Perkins and its other keeper from last season, veteran Adin Brown, is in camp with the team this year. That left Pyzdrowski as the odd-man out.
"At first I was disappointed because I wanted nothing more to be on that roster," Pyzdrowski wrote in an e-mail. "However, at the same time it wasn't the right/best situation for me and my career. Because of the trade for Troy Perkins and then Portland picking Adin Brown back up, it would have been very tough for me to see the field and get consistent playing time.
"As a goalkeeper, without playing time there is no way you can get better. You can work your backside off every day in training, but at the end of the day you need game situations, good and bad, to grow into a better and more polished professional. So really it makes the most sense for me to move on and get into a situation where I will challenge for that No. 1 spot day in and day out, and I feel I can do that in Montreal."
That's why the 24-year-old Pyzdrowski took nothing but positives from his year with the Timbers.
"I was very happy with how my season went," he wrote. "I entered the season knowing that I had two seasoned veterans to learn from in Steve Cronin and Adin Brown, and I wanted to take as much experience and knowledge away from those two that I could. I knew that with my first season as a professional, growth was the most important thing.
"I was fortunate to see the field in six games (in all competitions), along with four starts, and I took those opportunities and ran with them. I ended the season with a 3-1 record and was very thankful for each of those appearances. I feel I grew tremendously as a player as well as a person, and I take that along with me today."
And, he said that Portland coaches contacted the Impact on his behalf during the offseason to help secure his new opportunity.
Montreal has only keeper signed for 2011, Andrei Badescu. He was on the team's roster last year but didn't see any league action as Matt Jordan and Srdjan Djekanovic split time between the posts. At least one other keeper is part of the invitational tryout camp, Evan Bush, who played for Crystal Palace Baltimore in the USSF D2 Pro League last year.
"To be honest, I am not sure who will be back and who won't be back for next season," Pyzdrowski wrote. "All I know is they are looking for a goalkeeper who can step in and challenge for the No. 1 spot right away, and that is what intrigued me most about this opportunity."
Players who impress technical director Nick De Santis and coach Marc Dos Santos during the tryout camp will earn spots in the Impact's training camp, which starts Feb. 7.
"We want to do well in 2011, but we are already working on our MLS team for 2012," De Santis said in a news release. "We don’t want to rush any decisions, so we will be taking our time during camp to examine our options. We are looking for MLS-caliber players."
The NASL's status for 2011 is in doubt after last week's announcement that the U.S. Soccer Federation had withdrawn its sanctioning of the fledgling league due to financial concerns.
But Pyzdrowski said that isn't a major concern for him.
"It really hasn't affected my thinking of the league at all," he wrote. "First off, I know I have an opportunity here in Montreal to be a part of a team who is headed in the right direction in regards to MLS. They have a rich history and a great fan base and incredible organization as a whole.
"Second, I don't think you need sanctioning to support the level of the product that is put on the field each game. There are great players all throughout this league that have been to the MLS and further and for whatever reason have moved on. Everyone needs a place to play in order to grow into a better player and the NASL gives players another opportunity to do just that."
Alex Horwath, University of Wisconsin
Horwath thought he would be in training camp with MLS club D.C. United this week. Instead, he was at home in Maryland staying in shape and hoping for opportunities.
Last year, Horwath was an MLS pool goalkeeper, meaning any team could bring him in if injuries or national team call-ups left them with only one healthy keeper.
While he trained with the Kansas City Wizards much of the year, he ended up spending two months with the San Jose Earthquakes and also had short stints with the New York Red Bulls and Seattle Sounders.
"It was great," Horwath said of his rookie season. "For a young goalkeeper knowing you're not really going to see the field, it was a great experience. Being able to learn from (former U.S. international) Kasey Keller for a while (with Seattle), being in San Jose for two months and learning from Jon Busch, he's a great professional, seeing different coaching styles, it really was a great experience. I'm really happy with how it worked out.
"It definitely worked out and it opened the door for me in the future – my stock went up because I went to these teams and did well, and these are the teams that have been contacting me in the offseason."
One of those teams was D.C. United, which had Horwath in to train right after the season.
"I did well and they were very interested, so they claimed a discovery tag on me, which means they owned my rights. Essentially, it's a first-right-of-refusal thing," he explained. "So I couldn't really go anywhere else. I had a good opportunity in Seattle, but I couldn't go there because D.C. claimed my rights."
Still, it appeared the 23-year-old would be invited to training camp to battle with Chase Harrison for the third keeper spot on the D.C. United roster behind Bill Hamid and Cronin. "But then they decided to draft somebody and go in a different direction," Horwath said, referring to the team's selection of Joe Willis in the third round of the MLS SuperDraft earlier this month.
D.C. United then dropped its discovery claim on Horwath, he said, allowing him to join any team in the league. Yet some opportunities already had passed him by.
"It's frustrating, but it's the way the league's built right now," Horwath said. "But it's just the way it worked out, things go that way. They just decided to go a different route. It's definitely disappointing that I had different opportunities that I would have loved to have acted on, and I had some great opportunities thrown my way that I couldn't act on, but it is what it is and I'll move on and I'll find somewhere else."
He likely will join up with the Red Bulls for camp next week – New York has three keepers, starter Bouna Coundoul, backup Greg Sutton and Supplemental Draft pick Jimmy Maurer. Horwath also will explore possibilities with NASL and USL PRO teams.
"I still haven't ruled out NASL or any of that stuff, because there's something to be said about getting playing time, too," he said. "It's tough for young goalkeepers, especially, to break into (MLS). So even if I were to get on a roster this year, I could be sitting for another three or four years.
"I had a great, great last year. I had the opportunity to play for four different teams, met a lot of people, learned under a lot of people. But I also saw some things. I mean, there are some 27-, 28-year-old goalkeepers that have one or two games in their entire career. When you get to that point, then you become old and don't have experience. You know, when you're young and don't have experience, it's OK because they think they can mold you. But once you get to a certain point and you don't have experience, then your stock really starts to plummet. So I feel like sometimes it is a better route to go lower and then work your way back up rather than staying up and not gaining experience."
Katie Kelly, Marquette
The defender-midfielder is pursuing options at home and abroad.
Kelly has a trial with the Atlanta Beat of Women's Professional Soccer this weekend, then is set for a month-long trial with Swedish club Dalsjöfors GoIF in February.
The 23-year-old played in the Damallsvenskan, Sweden's top division, last year with Kristianstads DFF. She appeared in 23 matches (15 starts) in all competitions and recorded one goal.
"It's a really perfect situation," Kelly wrote in an e-mail, "because if either myself or the coach/GM don't want to have a contract together, then it still leaves me with the opportunity to play with a team like the Atlanta Beat, because their preseason begins March 1st."
Dan O'Brien, UW-Green Bay
As expected, the midfielder recently left New Zealand ASB Premiership club Hawke's Bay United and has returned to the U.S.
His agent, Eddie Rock, said last month that O'Brien likely would try to sign with an NASL or USL Pro team. O'Brien, 24, finished with two assists in five games (all starts) for Hawke's Bay in the country's top division.
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