Rafael Cox is part of a very prestigious list of college soccer players across the U.S.A. Cox, a former Tacoma Tide FC standout & University of Washington star, is one of 65 college seniors from 45 Division 1 schools that has been invited to participate in the 2009 adidas MLS Player Combine. Cox, a midfielder from Tacoma, Wash., culminated his collegiate career at UW this past fall and was a first-team All-Pac-10 honoree. The annual player combine will be held at Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. on Jan. 9-13th of 2009.

This is an excellent honor, but it is more than that. The opportunity to show Cox’s skills at this combine will be extremely advantageous to his pursuit of a professional soccer career. The coaching and management staffs of all 15 MLS teams will be in attendance to scout talent at the 2009 adidas MLS Player Combine, which concludes two days before the 2009 MLS SuperDraft. At the 2008 MLS SuperDraft 43 of the 56 players drafted participated in the 2008 adidas MLS Player Combine; 12 combine players were selected in the first round. The 2009 MLS SuperDraft will be held on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009 in St. Louis, Mo.
The initial player list was determined by a select panel of Division I college coaches representing all conferences who nominated and voted for players in conjunction with MLS coaches. Youth players from the Generation adidas program will join additional collegiate players from NCAA Division II and III schools, NAIA schools and Division I alternates to finalize the 2009 adidas Player Combine. The final player list and team assignments will be announced in the coming weeks.

For additional info on the combine or other participants, click HERE