2006 Heat Schedule Released.
Tryouts slated for the end of February
The 2005 Premier Development League (PDL) Southern Conference Runner-Up Laredo Heat Soccer Club is pleased to announce its 2006 PDL Division Schedule. Similar to last year, the Heat will play a 16 game league schedule with 8 home and 8 away games. All Mid-South Division teams will be visiting the Gateway City this season. In addition to the 8 league games at home, the Laredo Heat is also looking at hosting additional Friendly Games versus teams from Mexico's "Reserva Especial" Division, Reserve MLS teams from Texas and top amateur teams from other parts of the country. Opponents and dates for the additional games will be announced once negotiations with the different soccer federations are finalized.
Heat owner and team president, Shashi Vaswani, mentioned "The entire organization is looking forward to the 2006 season with the objective of improving on our successful 2005 finish. " Vaswani added, "Concluding the 2005 season in the final 8 (out of 55 PDL teams across the United States) was a great accomplishment for the Laredo Heat and anything less this year will be a disappointment."
The Heat's first home league game will be on Saturday, April 29th versus the Austin Lightning. This game in Laredo will also be the first PDL game for the entire league. The following weekend, on Saturday, May 6th, the New Orleans Shell Shockers will be coming to town to challenge the Heat. On Saturday, May 13th, the DFW Tornados will visit the Gateway City to close out a three weekend home stand for the Heat. On Saturday, June 10th, the defending 2005 Southern Conference Champion and PDL Championship Runner-Up El Paso Patriots will visit Laredo. On Friday, June 30th and Saturday, July 1st, the Austin Lightning returns to the border for a weekend double header against the Heat. The Heat will complete their home schedule by once again hosting a pair of weekend games on Friday, July 14th versus the El Paso Patriots and on Saturday, July 15th against the DFW Tornados. All Laredo Heat Soccer Club home games will have a local start time of 8:05 PM and will be played at the Student Activity Complex located at Loop 20 and Highway 359.
The Laredo Heat away games consist of games versus the El Paso Patriots on Saturday, May 20th, against the DFW Tornados on Friday, May 26th and Friday, June 23rd, back to back games versus the Austin Lightning on Friday, June 16th and Saturday, June 17th. On Friday, July 7th and Saturday, July 8th, the Heat visit New Orleans to take on the Shell Shockers for another set of back to back games. The Laredo Heat SC finishes out the division schedule with an away game in El Paso versus the Patriots on Saturday, July 22nd.
Laredo Heat SC 2006 Division Schedule
Saturday, April 29 Austin Lightning 8:05PM Home
Saturday, May 6 New Orleans Shell Shockers 8:05PM Home
Saturday, May 13 DFW Tornados 8:05PM Home
Saturday, May 20 El Paso Patriots 7:30PM Away
Friday, May 26 DFW Tornados 7:30PM Away
Saturday, June 10 El Paso Patriots 8:05PM Home
Friday, June 16 Austin Lightning 7:30PM Away
Friday, June 17 Austin Lightning 7:30PM Away
Friday, June 23 DFW Tornados 7:30PM Away
Friday, June 30 Austin Lightning 8:05PM Home
Saturday, July 1 Austin Lightning 8:05PM Home
Friday, July 7 New Orleans Shell Shockers 7:30PM Away
Saturday, July 8 New Orleans Shell Shockers 7:30PM Away
Saturday, July 14 El Paso Patriots 8:05PM Home
Friday, July 15 DFW Tornados 8:05PM Home
Saturday, July 22 El Paso Patriots 7:30PM Away
Team Tryouts
As in the past two years, the Laredo Heat will be conducting player tryouts; however, this year, all interested players have been informed that their playing resume should be e-mailed or faxed to the organization prior to Friday, February 17th and upon review, the player will be informed if they are invited to the tryout. Any player interested in trying out for the Heat is asked to e-mail their resume to jjvela@laredoheatsc.com or to fax it to (956) 723 - 7663.
Tryouts, under the direction of Heat Head Coach Israel Collazo, will be conducted at the Laredo Job Corp on Friday, February 24th from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM and on Saturday, February 25th and Sunday, February 26th at United Day School from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM on both days.
Heat General Manager, J.J. Vela said, "We decided to change our approach to the tryouts this year and hopefully, with player resumes in hand prior to the sessions, we will be more efficient and truly prepared to look at all the potential athletes." Vela added, "At this point, we already have several resumes of players coming to the tryouts from as far away as Florida and other players that found out about Laredo last year during the playoffs. It's amazing to see how players find out about you when you do well and then want to be part of it. Of course, we still have returning players from last year and with the right mix of talent, we plan to make a longer run in the playoffs."
For additional information on the Laredo Heat Soccer Club and future game updates, please visit their web site at www.laredoheatsc.com .
