Loaded question, but being downstate I'd be curious to see what Chicago-area people think of as the Top 10 (or even 20) clubs for boys in Illinois, or just who they see as better than middling if the Fire and FCU are that.
Personally, I think downstate soccer is pretty weak - including SLSG - IL. Over years of kids travel (10 years+), I can't think of one quality downstate opponent - probably worse than Milwaukee's talent. But I defer to my smarter downstate parents
- Was looking for an overall assessment of top clubs. I assume most or all would be Chicago-area. Downstate, maybe even including the Metro East, just doesn't have the population base.
Not sure about the quality of the teams in the rest of the state but for me the top ten boys clubs for high school ages in the Chicago area are ( in no order) Sockers DA, Fire DA, FCU DA, Fire City, Raiders, Eclipse, Galaxy, Libertyville, FCU USYSA, Sockers NPL. Rockford Raptors, SASA, Central IL and SLSG typically have good teams from u10 up
U15 and younger I would add Inferno (some teams did not became Eclipse), Addison United, Elgin Pumas, Jahbat, Kopion, CSA and Eagles (apparently they also split into two clubs. I am missing some good developmental clubs for sure, this is just from top of my mind
Maybe money from all of those affiliated clubs? How many are they? Fire South, City, West, North, Team Evanston is becoming one? Indiana and Michigan out of state. Forgot to mention Chicago Rush as a club that will be strong if they ate not already.
I believe LnknPrk's rumor was just regarding the Fire's Development Academy not the entirety of Fire Jrs operations. But I think we will have to wait for him to emerge from the fog of a Fire losing streak and the player signing window closing today before his orbit will bring him back, gracing us with his knowledge.
As I said before the deal would be for their DA. The Fire Jr program is a cash cow that Hauptman wants to keep. Fire juniors includes CHICAGO, MOUNT PROSPECT, ORLAND PARK, PLAINFIELD, NAPLES, BLOOMINGTON/NORMAL, WESTFIELD, EVANSVILLE, LOUISVILLE, NEW ORLEANS, HUDSONVILLE Those clubs are either owned by the Fire or pay marketing rights and the Fire get to claim homegrown status on any player they develop ie Cam Lindley ( even though they traded him because he did not want to play for them)
Nelson has been trying to axe the DA for years because there is no return on the clubs multimillion dollar investment in a program that US Soccer/MLS mandates. They have not been able to produce enough successful professionals to justify the expense. His latest proposal was to only have the U17 and U19 teams under the Chicago Fire and have the Jr's programs manage the 12-15s... It doesn't help Fire that most of the top boys players in the area play for Sockers. To their credit, Sockers had 9 kids trial at Danish club HB Koge with one signing a first-team contract and also had a player trial at Rapid Vienna over the summer. For a club without a first team they do have a track record of producing professionals that actually stay in the game and have varying degrees of success. Hell, three of their guys are playing for Orlando City! For a club that has all players pay-to-play and having no first team they've done more than the free-to-play Fire DA with a direct pro path. Shame on Fire, really. They haven't had the leadership to really make the most of their youth program...club leadership would rather invest in a has-been instead of investing in developing and promoting youth. Sure, a big (old) name might help put asses in the seats and thats great for the bottom line, but it doesn't matter who you sign Bridgeview is still Bridgeview and no one likes going there. Fire are starting to get their act together in terms of scouting and recruiting in the area tho...they did knick 3 of Sockers top kids from what was widely regarded as the top team in the nation at 2004, two with YNT call-ups. Maybe fortunes are changing?
Sockers have the staff and the reputation that attracks the best boys. I don't think there is a better club in region II to be honest. But be careful though, if your kid plays in the same position as a coaches kid... I have two close friends who's boys were better then the boy of one of the clubs top coaches - they saw little play time and often were tossed comments like "Your player is not in shape" or "Does not work hard at practice". Same coach had his daughter playing up 2 ages on an ECNL teams - practicing with the boys and more (yeah that's fair for paying customers)... Heard there were tears when the coach was told his daughter had no shot at a USWNT. Tragedy!
Eclipse Challenge Cup looked pretty good over the weekend. The tournament managed to get some serious clubs such as PDA, Top Hat, Hawks, SLSG and Kings Hammer. Spoke to a few parents who are new the the Eclipse and said: "Got our asses kicked by a team called PDA from New Jersey. Awesome club very well prepared. I was totally happy with our team." "It was an eye opener." "Coach is awesome and very supportive while stern at the same time. He was really giving direction when needed and silent when he wanted the girls to figure things on their own" "It was a great experience" Hope they can continue to grow this tourney!
It is a very odd time for a tournament. Most teams have only started preseason for a week. Many of the scores were lopsided. Seems like a lot of travel for uncompetitive matches.
Very true - Eclipse really did not hash out their teams. Cincinati was not to happy about stuffing many teams. PDA seemed okay with the tourney. But yeah - I agree that this would be better suited for a month or two out.
Most teams in the area are in their first week of programming, if they've started at all. Which means most players likely aren't even close to match fit or in form. Take one look at the scores and I don't think it was really a "good event"...5 goal spreads across the board. But why host a tournament now? Because there's nothing else going on, meaning facilities are available for cheap and teams wouldn't be participating in other tournaments. How did they get PDA, Tophat, and Hawks? They all sit around the ECNL high table counting their stacks..."you bring some teams to our events and we'll bring teams to yours" = $$$. To be fair, most tournaments are run this way. Good play from Eclipse on the business side once again. Like dropping from DA and fielding two ECNL sides, they've been able to maximize their lucrative business model under the guise of "competition".
The tourney has been around for a while used to be much better. You still have issues with DA teams not being able to play U14 and above. So the TH and CDA teams were their B teams. About 5 years ago, you would get some very good ECNL teams from Texas, CO, etc. and it was arguably the best midwest tourney for girls. http://home.gotsoccer.com/rankings/event.aspx?EventID=38018 Now, after the great soccer split, it draws more from WI and MICH.
Other than YNWA1986 's reason above ("you bring some teams to our events and we'll bring teams to yours" = $$$) which I unfortunately suspect is true, why not do local friendlies to get in shape for the season? Why do a pre-season tournament? There are a lot of fields and referees available now; a couple friendlies over the next 2 weeks would be much better than a pre-season tournament.
Yeah I figured that was not the top teams but name recognition alone makes it a good business deal. And BTW - most parents on the Eclipse were happy to lose to better teams in order to show their players just how hard they are going to have to work this season. Again though - Eclipse just tossed names in a hat - none of these teams are set for the season.
We all know the answer to that and it's $$$. Eclipse parents are eating this up - so there you go. They see value and maybe they will get it. And frankly I think some of these clubs run away from local top teams because they are worried they may look like shit. I think I mentioned it already but Cincinnati had some of the same concerns mentioned here.
We will see how long they stay happy after the teams are set and their daughter is placed on the weaker team. The tossing of names in a hat just delays that and avoids the top team from being exposed in August.
What are you developing when you get played off the pitch when you're on a mixed bag team against PDA's first team? "Show how hard they need to work by losing to better teams"...does a player needs to get their ass kicked to get them to work hard? Might be a red flag in itself. And besides working hard, how can you even get into developing soccer when you're losing 0-5 and can't touch the ball? This is the Kool-Aid in Eclipse canteen and people just suck it down. I mean, how is this a surprise? We're talking Eclipse here. Their idea of motivation is to demean and drop F-bombs on 13yr olds then sleep w/ their moms. Come to think of it...cussing at middle school kids, calling teenage girls fat, plundering the parent sideline with reckless abandon, AND raking in money from worthless events? Anyone know if they're hiring?!
Just looking at results online and yes, there were a lot of lopsided games. Many with the host club on the wrong side. Seems like they could have done more to flight the younger age brackets as they had enough teams participating. Looks like some of the top teams were miles better than the field, so much so that I'm not sure if there was any solution. PDA and TopHat are all tight with Eclipse, so there is plenty of back-scratching going on, but at some point they might not be so fired up to travel so far for such uneven comp. PDA absolutely destroyed the field.