For anyone who thinks they were overlooked or not given the chance to play professional football, one job market offers opportunity.

Bring workout gear suitable for sprints and one-on-one drills, have $60 in cash or a money order and be ready to show basic skills for a shot at a dream. The Philadelphia Soul, reigning champions of the Arena Football League, are prospecting for players with the right stuff.

An open tryout will be held on the field turf at the Wolvarena in Turtle Creek -- Woodland Hills High School stadium --Sunday.

"We are coming with the intention of signing players who have a chance of making the team in camp. Maybe we can find a diamond in the rough," said Bret Munsey, the team's coach and player personnel director. "I would love to sign two or three guys who can help us win another championship."

Jobs are open at all positions, but given that arena football has its own variations of the game, those trying out must take part in offensive and defensive drills. There will be separate sessions broken down by position.

Quarterbacks, wide receivers and defensive backs will take part in the first session, with registration beginning at 8 a.m. and the tryouts to start at 9. For offensive and defensive linemen, fullbacks, linebackers and kickers, registration begins at noon with the tryout starting at 1 p.m.

Workouts will consist of running the 40-yard dash and the 20-yard short shuttle. There will be a set of position drills and one-on-one drills, such as receivers running routes against defenders. But because there will be no contact, no pads will be worn. Arena football may be played on a shorter and narrower field indoors, but football is still football and a premium will be placed on basic skills.

"Size and speed will catch a coach's eye," Munsey said.

The Pittsburgh Gladiators were part of the AFL's inaugural season in 1987, and there is talk that the game could return in the new arena being built for the Penguins. The Soul, which came into existence in 2004, are co-owned by rocker Jon Bon Jovi and Craig Spencer, with former NFL quarterback Ron Jaworski serving as team president.

The odds of making it are long, but a Cinderella story or two may be enough to motivate a player to give it a shot. Perhaps the best known long-shot is Vince Papale, who earned a special teams roster spot with the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL in 1976. And Kurt Warner, currently with the Arizona Cardinals, performed well enough in the AFL to merit a shot in the NFL, where he won a Super Bowl with the Rams and is the starting quarterback with the Cardinals.

One local success story is Greg Hopkins, who has a spot on the list of the 20 greatest players of all time in the AFL. A Waynesburg native who played at Slippery Rock, Hopkins still has the ticket stub from a Gladiators game he attended as a spectator in 1988. He was later a wide receiver/defensive back and coach.

"Western Pennsylvania is a hotbed of football," said Hopkins, who is a candidate for the Pennsylvania Legislature. "There are always guys who are good enough who may have never gotten a chance or got caught up in a numbers game in the NFL. If you're good enough to play, the AFL is a great experience."

The AFL has grown from a four-team league to a 17-team circuit that plays from March to June and has its own following and TV audience. ESPN invested in the league and televises a minimum of 26 games per season, including the championship game. Salaries range from the league minimum of $30,000, plus free housing, to $165,000.

The Soul has 15 players under contract and will bring 37 players to training camp. The team has put out the word to agents, NFL scouts and college coaches that it is looking for local talent. But it also expects to take a look at players who never went to college.

"We know there's great football in the western part of the state. There are always those guys who have gone under the radar or went unnoticed because they went to a small school," Munsey said. "Bottom line, we hope to find a guy who can help us."

Some local input will be available at the tryouts. Rich Ingold, a former star quarterback at Seton-LaSalle High School, will be on hand to evaluate the talent. He is the coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers in af2, the arena league's minor league system.