Daytona Beach, FL - A tryout for hundreds of aspiring professional football players at Daytona Stadium this weekend is scrubbed due to the sheer number of people wanting a chance to show their worth.
The American Patriot League announced the cancelation late yesterday afternoon (January 3rd), less than two days before the weekend session was about to commence tomorrow and Sunday.
APL spokesperson Amanda Smith says over 700 applications were received for the tryout, which the league felt was too many to go through in a weekend at Daytona Stadium.
"A bigger facility is needed," Smith added. "Arrangements are being made. As soon as they are finalized, we’ll let you know."
League officials initially expected around 300 to 350 applicants for the Daytona tryout when it was announced last month.
The league - which is scheduled to start play in March - is also anticipating another 200 player applications to come in shortly, per Smith.
The tryouts are invitation-only, meaning no walk-ups are being accepted. Players who want to join the APL must contact the league through their agent and/or fill out an application detailing their football playing experience before they're allowed to try out.
Next weekend's scheduled tryouts at Houston's Rice Stadium - where the APL held two sessions last year - has also been canceled.
The Daytona and Houston tryouts were the final ones scheduled for the APL before training camp begins later this month in Cocoa Beach.
The new spring pro football league is trying to lock in at least four more cities by the time the season begins in March.
Daytona Beach was the first city assigned a franchise in October, with Mobile, Sacramento and Shreveport joining since then.
Over 170 names for Daytona's team have been submitted for the league's "name the team" contest, per league officials. That list will be paired down to three finalists and put to a fan vote, with the winner of that vote being the name of the franchise. A similar process will take place for the remaining teams in the APL.
