USL Feature
Friday, February 3, 2012
Fresno Fuego forward Tyler Reinhart had a standout season last summer for the Fresno Fuego, helping the side complete a perfect regular season as he scored 12 goals and added two assists while playing every game. This past weekend he attended the USL PRO Combine presented by Umbro with an eye on taking his game to the professional ranks, and USLSoccer.com caught up with him this week to find out how things went.
USLSoccer.com: What we your expectations going in, and did the combine live up to them?
REINHART: I wasn’t too sure what to expect going in. I knew there would be a lot of people and a lot of coaches, I just wanted to go out and play the best I could and see what happened. It definitely lived up to my expectations, when first arriving the facilities were beautiful and the way everything was organized and ran was top-notch.
USLSoccer.com: What was the biggest thing you got out of the combine?
REINHART: The biggest thing I got out of the combine was the experience of going into something like that and playing with people you hadn’t met before and getting 15-to-20 minutes here and there. You just really have to take advantage of the opportunities you have on the field and try to make a difference.
USLSoccer.com: The team you were on, it didn’t necessarily seem as though it was the most technical, but it also seemed as though the attitude throughout the team was really strong. You guys we able to fight back in games, come back from deficits, what was it like being part of that group?
REINHART: It was a great group. At these things it’s always fun to go out and meet new people and meet different characters who share your passion to play at the next level. You’re right, we did have a mindset, a never-day-die attitude, whether we were down or up we always continued to fight and push forward. I think everyone that was out there on our team was really willing to perform and do their best, and to give everything they had.
USLSoccer.com: Now, you played for the Fresno Fuego in the PDL, what was that experience like, and what did you learn from playing with them?
REINHART: That experience has been great. We won organization of the year this past year, and they’ve been a strong organization from the coaching staff to the GM to everyone on the staff, they’ve been terrific getting support from the community and helping us, and they’ve also had a lot of great players come through the organization, so to learn from them and pick up different things about the game, it’s just been a tremendous experience to play for the Fuego.
USLSoccer.com: You’re a forward, and you got to play alongside Milton Blanco, who was the league MVP last year. What was the biggest thing you learnt from him?
REINHART: I learned so many different things from Milton, but just from a standpoint of reading the game and seeing certain things I didn’t see before, he’s a veteran, he’s played at pretty much all sorts of high levels in the U.S., so he’s had that experience and he wanted to share that with other people so I was able to learn a lot from him.
USLSoccer.com: What’s the next step for you, what are your plans for the next couple of months as you try to find your way into the pro ranks?
REINHART: I went to the USL Combine, I’ve got another combine coming up [with the Ventura County Fusion], and I’m just going to try and do everything I can and hopefully hear something and get another opportunity to play in front of some coaches, and hopefully they see something they like.