The Rio Grande Valley FC Toros hosted an open tryout at McAllen Sports Park last weekend, where more than 100 hopefuls laced up their boots to compete for an invitation to training camp.

Houston Dynamo vice president and general manager Matt Jordan, RGV FC head coach Wilmer Cabrera and other members of the Dynamo technical staff were in attendance for the two-day event.

“We were very pleased with the turnout for the RGV FC tryouts. We had six games in two days and the level of play was better than expected,” Jordan said. “A handful of the participants will be invited back to camp to be evaluated further, including players that came up in the Dynamo Academy system.”

Players participating on the first day went through a series of fitness tests, skill drills, small-sided games and scrimmages. After the first round of cuts, participants returned for a second day of additional drills and scrimmages.

As word spread about the tryouts, curious members of the Rio Grande Valley community visited McAllen Sports Park for a glimpse of the action.

“This team is an important step for soccer in the Rio Grande Valley area while providing a professional environment for our young players to grow,” Jordan said. “The community is embracing the team and we’re very happy with how we’ve been received.”

This was the first on-the-field project for RGV FC, who signed Dynamo Academy forward Juan “Charly” Flores last month. Six to seven players from the tryouts will join Flores next month for training camp. RGV FC assistant coach Michael Dellorusso notified the participants about the next step and told them to keep calm, do their best and enjoy the opportunity.

“Anything is possible,” Dellorusso said about his message to the participants. “These guys just came out of the woodwork, they weren’t hopping around from club to club. This is their shot to make their dreams come true.”

In addition to the professional workouts, RGV FC also hosted academy tryouts at the same event. More than 150 players competed for 20 spots on the U14 and U16 teams.

“The Valley is a hotbed for soccer at every level, and Wilmer and the staff were very pleased with what they saw,” Jordan said. “We could see that the players and community are really excited to have the Dynamo leading this project.”