http://www.knbc.com/news/14284711/detail.html

Football Team Tests Diamonds In The Rough With Open Tryout
Coach Says Camp Draws All Types

POSTED: 1:33 pm PDT October 6, 2007

SAN JACINTO, Calif. -- About 50 to 60 professional football hopefuls were
expected to participate in an open tryout camp for the Los Angeles Avengers
of the Arena Football League on Saturday at Oaks Stadium on the Soboba Band
of Luiseno Indians Reservation.

Each player is paying $50 to participate in the tryout expected to last
four to six hours. The players will run a 40-yard dash, lift weights and
participate in drills.

Members of the tribe's semi-pro team, the Soboba Warriors, will be among
those participating in the tryout camp.

Warriors coach Ed Hodgkiss said he expects a wide range of abilities at the
tryout, from former AFL and NCAA Division I players to those who never
played high school football.

The camp's goal is to find one or two players to bring in for an more in-
depth tryout at the team's training facility at West Los Angeles College,
according to Hodgkiss.

"You never know who you can find," Hodgkiss said. "There's always the
opportunity to find somebody we overlooked."

Most of the Avengers' scouting for players outside the AFL is conducted
during NFL training camps, looking at players who just miss making an NFL
team, but can find a spot on an AFL team's roster, Hodgkiss said.

The tryout camp is being held at Oaks Stadium in connection with the Soboba
Casino's marketing arrangement with the Avengers. The team conducted its
training camp at Oaks Stadium earlier this year and will return this winter
to again hold its training camp there, Hodgkiss said.

Copyright 2007 by KNBC.com and KNBC (NBC4 Los Angeles). All rights
reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.