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SAN ANTONIO –   Twenty-four-year-old Nikola Vasilić of Serbia has signed with San Antonio for the 2013 North American Soccer League (NASL) season that begins April 6.

"Nikola is a 6-foot, 3-inch center-forward who is enormously strong,” said Head Coach Tim Hankinson.  “He’s a young, hard-working player who will help us press opponents and always give us a big presence in the opposing box.”

The Scorpions’ newest signee will join his new Scorpions teammates for training camp beginning Friday, March 1.  Vasilić, who most recently played for Novi Sad in Serbia’s premier league, began his career in 2010 with Mladi Radnik and later competed for Elbasani and Sindelic Nis, all in Eastern Europe.

"We continue to sign skilled players at all positions who I believe will come together and become very competitive in the quest for a championship,” Hankinson said.  “All of us are excited about competing for Soccer for a Cause at our brand new home, Toyota Field.”    

The Scorpions, NASL 2012 regular-season champs, will open the 2013 season on the road April 6 versus the Minnesota Stars FC and play their first home game April 13 against last year’s playoff champs, the Tampa Bay Rowdies, at Toyota Field.  The colorful, 8,000-seat stadium, located on Thousand Oaks Drive near the intersection with Wurzbach Parkway, just west of IH 35 in Northeast San Antonio, also will host concerts and special events in addition to soccer.

Scorpions season tickets are now on sale, said team President Howard Cornfield, and Meet Your Seat events have been scheduled from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays so fans can visit Toyota Field and select their season-ticket seats.  For more information, visit www.SanAntonioScorpions .com.

The Scorpions franchise is unique in that all net profits go to help expand programs and services for the special-needs community through non-profit Morgan’s Wonderland, the world’s first and only ultra-accessible theme park, Cornfield noted.   

Sensing an opportunity to benefit Morgan’s Wonderland for the long run, San Antonio philanthropist Gordon Hartman three years ago secured an NASL franchise – one rung below Major League Soccer – and launched Soccer for a Cause, a successful campaign to build community support for pro soccer.  The Scorpions played their first NASL match April 15, 2012.