Call it a sneak preview.
Though veteran players are still a couple days away from reporting for preseason training, the groundwork is already being laid for Real Salt Lake's rookies and second-year players.
The latter group is in the midst of participating in a short rookie camp in advance of the team's first preseason trip to Arizona next week. Starting last Thursday, rookies and second-year players all assembled at the Newpark recreational center in Park City to begin their preseason training.
For Real, the hope is that putting younger players through extra drills will enable them to get a feel for what training sessions are like before the returning veterans enter into the mix later this week. It also offers them an opportunity to have extra face time with the RSL coaching staff and, in this setting, show what they can bring to the table for the defending MLS champs.
"We really want to give these guys the best opportunity that we can to show us what they're made of and to show us if they can help us this year," Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis said.
For a player like first-round draft pick Collen Warner, participating in rookie camp offers a chance to get up to speed on the tactics and style of play that Kreis employs. It also offers perhaps a more suitable environment for a brand-new player to get their feet wet in the world of professional soccer.
"It's a little bit, I guess, safer in this environment you could say, because there's a lot of other college guys," Warner said.
After just a couple days in rookie camp, Warner is already aware of how different playing for Real will be from what he experienced as a midfielder at the University of Portland.
The speed of play, for one, is much quicker. Another change is the style of play itself. Kreis demands a controlled possession-oriented attack. It is not an unsettling development for Warner though. Rather, it is something that fits in line with the philosophies imparted by his college coaches.
"They put a lot of restrictions -- like one- and two-touch -- on the possession and I really enjoy that," said Warner of RSL's style of play. "They encourage us to play as quick and simply as possible."
Rookie camp is not exclusively focused on showing first-year players the ropes. It also presents an extra chance for second-year players like Jean Alexandre and Raphael Cox to get an extended look in the hopes of carving out a bigger role in year two.
Cox said his intention is to push the veterans ahead of him for a starting spot and -- at the very least -- carve out regular minutes as a substitute. Going into his second preseason with Real, he feels like he has an edge over a rookie in the fact that a year in the system offers him more familiarity with what is expected from him.
"It's definitely given me an advantage having a year over the other rookies coming in and trying out," Cox said. "You know what the training sessions are like. You know what the coaching staff is like. The players. The level of play. You know everything and what to expect. You have a little bit of an edge."
Both rookies and second-year players ultimately have the same goal in mind. Securing a roster spot on a team with few available is priority No. 1.
Kreis acknowledged that open roster spots are at a premium coming into the 2010 season. RSL has chosen not to invite the usual handful of trialists like in preseasons past because the team wants to focus on developing younger players already in the fold and getting veterans ready to perform at peak levels by the end of the preseason.
With so much proven talent already in the mix, finding time for an unproven prospect isn't a given any longer.
"It continues to be more and more difficult to make our team," Kreis said. "We are, right now, at a point there if we're going to bring (a player) in, we got to get rid of somebody that we already like. So I think it is a difficult prospect for sure."
The one thing playing into a younger player's favor will be an extended schedule that comes with participating in the CONCACAF Champions League this season. Injuries and extra games will present opportunities for players not in the regular rotation.
Players like Cox intend to make the most of those chances.
"We definitely think it is a good opportunity for us to show that we can contribute to this very good team," Cox said. "It also helps for us to develop as players and push for starting spots which, in all, makes a better team."
John Coon is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
