COLUMBUS, Ohio - Adhering to today's deadline for all 13 Major League Soccer clubs to become roster and budget compliant, the Columbus Crew has waived veteran goalkeeper Jon Busch, defender Chris Leitch, midfielder Jose Retiz and defender Ivan Becerra.
The four will be available to the other 12 MLS clubs in Monday's (March 5) 3 p.m. waiver draft, which will be held via conference call.
"The roster compliance date is always a difficult day that requires difficult decisions," said Head Coach Sigi Schmid. "We would like to thank Jon, Chris, Jose and Ivan for all of their efforts on behalf of the club and wish them all the best as they move forward. At the same time, we are very happy with our roster and excited about the upcoming season."
Busch, who is coming back from his second season-ending knee injury in as many years, had been with the Crew since 2002 and is the club's career leader in most goalkeeping statistical categories. Leitch, a Pickerington native, was in his second tour of duty with the Crew, sandwiched around a successful stint in New York, while Retiz and Becerra both depart after one season in Columbus. Retiz started 21 of the 22 games in which he appeared in 2006, while Becerra did not see any league match play.
In order to be compliant, which the Crew now is, teams must be in line with the following requirements:
- Toronto FC may have three (3) additional Senior International players as long as those three players qualify as domestic for US-based teams; ** Toronto FC may have five (5) Youth Internationals
The Crew's roster currently features the 18 permissible senior roster players, as well as eight of the 10 developmental players allowed. Of its 2007 draftees, Brad Evans and Aaron Chandler are currently on the roster, while Ben Hunter, Ryan Junge, Tonci Skroce, Ted Niziolek and Kevin Burns have all returned to school for the time being. They were able to participate in part of the recent preseason camp in Florida and some of them will have the opportunity to join the club in Dallas and/or California later his month. The two open developmental slots could be filled from among that group.
Current 2007 Columbus Crew Roster
Senior (18)
Brad Evans
Jason Garey
Bill Gaudette
Eddie Gaven
Marcos Gonzalez%
Ned Grabavoy
Frankie Hejduk
Ezra Hendrickson
Andy Herron%
Will Hesmer
Chad Marshall
Stefani Miglioranzi%
Joseph Ngwenya~
Danny O'Rourke
Duncan Oughton~
Rusty Pierce
Jacob Thomas
Ricardo Virtuoso#
Developmental (8)
Marc Burch
Aaron Chandler
Andy Gruenebaum
Kei Kamara
Brandon Moss
Danny Szetela
Tim Ward
Jed Zayner*
*-Generation adidas; #-Youth International; %-Senior International; ~-Green Card
UPCOMING TRAINING SCHEDULE
The Crew will be in town training at the SuperKick/TeamZone facility in Lewis Center (409 Orangepointe Drive) through next Thursday, March 8. The current schedule follows, but it is subject to change, so please contact Dave Stephany or Jason Smith to confirm in advance.
MARCH
2: 9:30 a.m. - Training; 2 p.m. - Training
3: Training TBD
4: OFF
5: 9:30 a.m. - Training
6: 9:30 a.m. - Training; 2 p.m. - Training
7: 9:30 a.m. - Training
8: 9:30 a.m. - Training
9: Depart for Dallas
10: Training in Dallas
11: 6 p.m. (ET) - vs. Dallas in Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup
