Duluth Harbor Monsters Hold Open Tryouts In Search for Talented Roster

40 athletes showed up in hopes of making an impression and some were even added to the training camp roster at the conclusion of the tryout.

PROCTOR, Minn.- The Duluth Harbor Monsters are still looking for the players that will make up their roster when they begin play in June.

That continued on Friday when the team held their 2nd official tryout at the Rails Indoor Sports Complex in Proctor.

40 athletes showed up in hopes of making an impression and some were even added to the training camp roster at the conclusion of the tryout.

Head Coach Tony O’Neil says the goal was to find High IQ athletic players that can dominate in space. He added of course he’s building a football team but that’s only a part of it.

“So now we start getting the playbooks out. We start getting into the IQ part of football and learning the plays. So when they come to camp in April, we know what we have and we know what we have going on. Building a family as much as building a football team was super important for me. So now we start the bond. We start to make the group chats and get the idea of how we’re going to be come this season,” said O’Neil.

The Harbors Monsters have already added three players to the roster. Quarterback Ja’Vonte Johnson, wide receiver Nathan Chromy, and lastly former Duluth East running back Derek Daniels.

“It’s great to keep playing football. I really kept looking into it. I kept working out this whole summer until my time came. It’s good that they brought football to Duluth,” said Daniels.

“It was more personal because me and Tony are really good friends. He literally talked about this until the first time I met him. When this wasn’t a thing. So it basically manifested it which is pretty cool working that way. I’m definitely blessed to be a part, happy, and I came to win,” added Johnson.

“To play for a Minnesota team, it’s mean a lot, it’s amazing. I’m excited to put on for the state of Minnesota, town of Duluth. It’s going to be a ride and I’m hoping we’re going to have a successful first season,” said Chromy.

The Harbors Monsters first game is June 1st in Kansas City.