TFC's tryouts are a shameful stunt

Jan 31, 2008 04:30 AM

Cathal Kelly

Toronto FC's open tryouts are over, and none of the 300-plus aspirants made the senior team.

I'm sure it was fun for most. But for at least one, missing this opportunity is a harsh blow.

These tryouts are two years old now, a gimmick dreamed up to help sell the team before pre-season camp kicks off. The skill level varies wildly. Brazilian Gustavo Serrano, 20, was one of the hundreds with claims to quality.

I met him in a North York coffee shop on Tuesday, where he brought along a pair of friends to translate. According to Serrano, he has been an apprentice for two Brazilian professional squads – Coritiba and Cianorte.

Serrano's family lives in Vinhedo, a small town outside Sao Paolo. His father works on an orchid farm and his mother cleans the nearby church.

Coritiba and Cianorte are many hours from Vinhedo via bus. In both cases, Serrano was paid about $100 a month to play. He went to Coritiba when he was 17 and lived in a dorm underneath the stadium when he wasn't busy practising.

"I was a prisoner there," he said, only half-joking.

A night out was sitting in the stands to watch the senior team play. After a year, he left Coritiba and returned home to work at a car wash to help support his parents. He was then lured to Cianorte by a former coach, but that didn't work out any better.

Family friends in Canada told him about Toronto FC and their open tryouts. His dream was rekindled. Serrano began rising before dawn to run in what he expected were chilly Canadian conditions. Friends in Vinhedo raised money to buy him a plane ticket.

Once here, Serrano made the first and second cuts. His friends said they asked FC staff about immigration issues. They say they were told the club would handle the legal stuff if it came to that. Serrano's hopes began to rise.

After the final cut, the initial group had been whittled down to proper soccer sides, including Serrano. At that point, more than half of the remaining players were foreigners. Serrano was told he would hear if he'd made it within a week.

Sitting in a coffee shop five days later, Serrano was still waiting for that call. His friends looked more nervous.

Asked if he thought he had a chance, Serrano said: "By the way I played and by the way everybody else did, I think I have a good chance. It's like a dream. I just want to play and help my family."

Ultimately, Serrano was not chosen.

No one was.

Last night, the team sent a form email to all the hopefuls. One of Serrano's Toronto friends, Adrian Carranza, called it "generic and pathetic." Serrano had nothing to say about it – he was too gutted.

Last year, FC tapped 19-year-old York University student Jamaal Smith in the tryouts. A month after he was rolled out and had his photo op with coach Mo Johnston, Smith no longer was part of the team.

An open tryout is a stunt.

For locals, it's a harmless lark. But there are some who are going to take this thing at face value – that it's a meaningful audition.

It isn't.

Johnston didn't want to talk about the camp, the selection process or any of its players yesterday.

"The camp is over," Johnston said, ending the conversation.

And even while it was on, he spent only a short time looking over the last group.

Days ago, one FC official said the club had not expected so many foreigners to make the journey. There are hints the tryout format may be changed next year so that fewer Serranos have their dreams dashed as part of the club's pre-season, feel-good warm-up.

Serrano may have been naive to believe he was going to make this team, most 20-year-olds are.

I'm sure that doesn't make it sting any less this morning.

ckelly@thestar.ca