MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2009 - MEXICO CITY - Mexico has announced its coaching staff that will lead the nation's bid to qualify for the 2009 International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Junior World Championship to be played in Canton, Ohio, from June 27 to July 5, 2009.
Mexico will host either Panama or the Bahamas on Saturday, Feb. 14, in the tournament's final qualifier at the Estadio Roberto Tapatio Mendez at Ciudad University in Mexico City, with a 2 p.m. kickoff. The winner will become the third and final representative of the Pan-American region and will join the United States, Canada, Germany, Sweden, France, Japan and either Australia or New Zealand to complete an eight-team field at the inaugural event.
The 2009 IFAF Junior World Championship will feature the world's best high school-aged (19 and under) national teams from four continents. Games will be played at Fawcett Stadium in Canton, Ohio, home of the NFL's annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game.
Ernesto Alfaro del Villar, who is the head coach of the 2007 Liga Mayor university conference champion Burros Blancos from the Instituto Pólitecnico Nacional, has been named the head coach of the Mexican junior national team. Among his staff will be Baltimore Ravens practice squad player, defensive tackle Salomón Solano, who is no stranger to international competition having twice represented Mexico at the junior level in 2003 and 2004.
FMFA (Federación Mexicana de Futbol Americano) President José Jorge Orobio Rosas revealed the Mexican coaching staff and details of how the 45-man junior national team roster will be selected at a press conference. Team Mexico is inviting players based in Mexico and those living outside the nation's borders that qualify through nationality and meet the age requirements of the 19-and-under tournament, to tryout for the team. Practices will be held at Campo de I.P.N. Zacatenco and Campo de Buhos in Casco de Santo Tomas.
Ravens practice squad player and Mexico junior national team assistant coach Solano first emerged as a force at the University of Tamaulipas, where he led the team with five sacks and 39 tackles in 2005. He was selected to represent Mexico in the NFL Global Junior Championship, an international event formerly played during the week of Super Bowl in the host city, helping his nation to a third-place finish behind the U.S. and Canada on both occasions.
During the 2008 NFL preseason, the 23-year-old played in three games for the Ravens and has also spent time on the practice squad of the Detroit Lions. He recorded 16 tackles during two seasons with the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe.
Mexico will entertain either the Bahamas or Panama on Feb. 14 for the final place in Canton. The Bahamas' visit to take on Panama's junior national team on January 24 will be the country's first venture into international competition since becoming a member of IFAF in July 2008. Australia and New Zealand will clash on the Australian Day weekend of Jan. 24, 2009, in the nation's capital of Canberra to decide the Oceania representative.