Head: Soccer's Suncoast Pro Classic returns smaller, but star-studded
BRADENTON -- It's smaller than in past years, but the Suncoast Pro Classic still has the potential for some star power when the annual soccer tournament begins Saturday at IMG Academy.
Major League Soccer has one representative in the four-team field, but it's a doozie: New York City FC.
NYC FC is a club laden with well-known international stars such as England's Frank Lampard, Italy's Andrea Pirlo and Spain's David Villa.
It's the second straight year fans will get a chance to catch some big names in Bradenton as matches take place Saturday, Wednesday and Feb. 27. Match times are 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. each match day with general admission tickets costing $5.
Last year, Orlando City came for one match before jetting north for a preseason tournament. The club was entering its inaugural MLS season and had recently signed Brazilian star Kaka. But the midfielder didn't appear in Bradenton as he wasn't ready to join the team on the field yet.
"With these guys, we already know they are here training and they're playing," IMG Academy associate athletic director Scott Dean said.
The reason, though, for a smaller field with only one MLS club is twofold: there's ongoing construction on IMG's soccer training fields, while there's also other tournaments going on at the same time such as the Tampa Bay Rowdies Suncoast Invitational that features six MLS teams.
"This time next year there will not be any tractors driving around your practice and stuff like that," Dean said. "As a pro, that's not necessarily what you're thinking of for the last preseason leading up to what you're doing."
In addition to NYC FC, this year's tournament will include Iceland's Reykjavik FC, Denmark's HB Koge and United Soccer League's new franchise, FC Cincinnati.
"You'll see a lot of different styles of play," Dean said. "And that's something, being that we're so international here as it is, we want that to come out when we run the tournament."
The international focus also means IMG is continuing to attempt to bring in bigger clubs. The feasibility, due to the international calendar for European soccer giants, makes it difficult to slot into future tournaments.
"We've been in talks with Bayern Munich to come over and use this as a mid-year training ground," Dean said. "So the challenge becomes with those teams is they have a very small window, because it's a mid-year break compared to countries like Sweden and Denmark where their cycle mirrors the MLS cycle -- meaning the season starts in March."
Nonetheless, this year's event starts Saturday with games at the IMG Academy Stadium. The 7:30 p.m. game Saturday pits NYC FC against HB Koge.
The undercard is FC Cincinnati, which is entering its first year as a franchise under head coach John Harkes, against Reykjavik FC.
"We're excited to really get the guys together," Harkes said. "We've been training here in Cincinnati, but we also know getting down to IMG with the resources, the field conditions and then the competition we have it's pretty exciting."
Jason Dill, sports reporter, can be reached at 745-7017 or via email at jdill@bradenton.com. Like his Facebook page at Jason Dill Bradenton Herald.
This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 4:13 PM with the headline "Head: Soccer's Suncoast Pro Classic returns smaller, but star-studded ."