Supposedly in Jan. or early Feb. (cannot recall which) The way found about it was very weird...Ernesto Motta, the Spanish play-by-play guy had the final program of the season last Sunday (radio Wado-1280AM) I forgot to tune in, but later that night, a soccer show was being given on 1660 AM (also in Spanish)...Ernesto was pissed something bad was said about the Metros (something like "they should recruit more Latin kids from the area")..So Ernesto actually called the show and mentioned how they had put about 900 players on trial (between tri-state area kids -90%, and other states) and just one was actually able to break the team (who?) He also said that, at this stage, nationalities do not matter, but instead who can contribute to the team. He described how the experiments of the past -to bring players for the ethnic fans- never had its desired effect, so people should just forget about them Then he went on to describe the plans for next season, from where this info came about..There are (supposedly) first teams from Scandinavian nations competing in La Manga, who apparently will also be in preseason, so it will be much higher competition than last year In said radio program, it was also mentioned that the Harrrison thing should be a done deal between Dec and Jan....but then again, who knows Motta , besides being the commentator for games on the radio, is also"Director of Hispanic relations" or something like that...cannot remember exact title, but he ius part of the Metro organization...He also explicitly mentioned how he had no say whatsoever in personnel decisions or sites where they are supposed to train...
The Quakes and Galaxy played in it this year. Pretty much just a preseason competition with everyone getting ready for their seasons. There were Swedish, Norwegian, and Russian teams. All of those leagues play spring-to-fall seasons like MLS.
Noah is right, these leagues (because of how cold it gets up North) take time off during the winter. To get into shape they play several tournaments all over Europe. The South of Spain is perfect for them, as it is nice and moderate all year long. Plus the host cities love these type of tournaments because it brings money to their pockets. I say go for it. It will mean similar level of play for them.