Thanks Beautiful for the input. Would you happen to know if the players you speak of are male or female? I have heard that Zec is very good with the boy's but maybe not so with the girls. I have also heard that he does take some getting used to but it is a two way street out there and it doesn't seem like he understands that aspect. A little respect goes a long way in life.
The players I am talking about are all boys. I know when he was coaching them he did take some serious getting used to, and the boys had to get some mental toughness to say the least. But after a while they started to understand what Zec was trying to do, and he really helped them out. Like some of you are saying, he is a very tough coach and demands a great deal out of his players mentally as much as physically, but a great number of his former players rate him as high as anyone else they have trained under, and they have trained under some of the best in the state/region/nation.
I haven't had direct contact with him but know quite a few who have only on the girls side. Being a tough coach is one thing and I didn't want to bring this up but when you hear about vulgarty being used thats where the respect I mentioned comes into play. As a parent who is trying to look out for their child and is doing research on teams, coaches and clubs and you start to hear questionable things it makes you wonder.
I could care less about the vulgarity. Some F bomb coaches teach good soccer and proper onfield behavior, and some polite coaches run out teams that are punk kickballers.
Great dialogue, This is what i'm looking for,input an insight on the guy (Zec) to see if he has a good rep or a bad rep. Looks like most input /dialogue is coming from the boy's side of his coaching style. Keep it coming!
Zec surely does not speak in a way that would be considered "PC" by any stretch. As I said, he is very intense, and does not pull back when he is upset at a player. This does turn some people off, and a coach like this is not for everyone, BUT if you do have thick skin and learn to concentrate on what hes saying, now HOW he is saying it...you will become a better player under him, no doubt.
This type of coach will not work for the majority of girls teams, because girls don't care what you say, but HOW you say it.
It sure does seem to work for girls at the club Zec works for...have you ever heard a Rory Dames halftime or post game team talk? Definitely not rated pg13...
Couple parents told him to pipe down or they are gone - he piped down while they played for them. But back to his old self after they went to college. With the talent that he's working with, even I could be a great coach (without the cussing and swearing). I would never let my daughter play for someone like that unless that someone really made my daughter into a great player. He's not even that good of a coach.
Hopefully that last sentence is meant to be taken sarcastically. Just like Zec, you may not agree with the tactics Rory uses to motivate his players, and think his language is over the top or inappropriate, but don't confuse that with saying he isn't a good coach. He knows how to press the right buttons to motivate players to perform at their highest level, and that is a huge part of coaching.
Look, if he switched place with Trev's u12 girls third team coach, we'll be talking about how great this coach is. And Rory? Who is he? Trust me. I've seen him and he's a typical youth coach who played a bit of soccer in college. He is a great recruiter though.
So then by that logic phil jackson/sir alex ferguson/pete carroll/coach k/john wooden were or are all average coaches? Being able to win with talent does not mean you aren't a good coach. it can be very challenging to take a group of players that are all very skilled, and get them to buy into a team concept and make individual sacrifices in order to win games. Just because a coach has talented players does not mean that "anyone" could win with that group. If that were the case Kansas' mens bball team would have won the mens bball championship this year, Brazil would have won the World Cup in 06, the Yankees would win the world series every year, and so on. Winning with talent shouldn't mean that the accomplishments of the players and coaches involved should be diminished. Sure there are other coaches around that could have won with some of the teams that Eclipse has produced on the girls side, fair enough, but the fact is that the girls came to play for Rory or because of the reputation that Rory has built at Eclipse should say something about his ability to work with a group of talented individuals and get them to play as a team and achieve results, as well as put these players into regional and national pools. And also, what do you mean when you say "And Rory? Who is he?" what is that all about? Makes no sense. Oh and fyi, he did a lil more than play a little in college, here is his bio...http://www.eclipseselect.org/coaches.htm#Rory_Dames
BG11 beat me to the punch on this one. This is one of the most foolish statements I have read in Big Soccer. Rory started a team/club from scratch just a short time ago to a club that dominates Illinois girls' soccer, Midwest girls' soccer, and probably very soon U.S. girls' soccer. HIs players are beginning to show their brilliance in collegiate soccer. You've seen him? Have you seen his teams play? He is a great motivator, disciplinarian, team tactician, and game/season manager. Yes, he can be tough on his teams but if you really get to see him, he does have a heart under his facade, sarcastic game/ref comments, etc. I find it ironic how you toot Batata's horn yet Batata is just as good a "recruiter" as Rory yet is not as good a motivator, game/season tactician as Rory.
Very quickly back to Zec for a moment. So what I am reading is that several of you out there or maybe more have had children play under Zec and you say it is ok with you as a parent that the "F" boom is dropped directaly on your or anyone else's childs head to motivate? What were or are your childrens ages or does it matter to you what age this behavior on any coaches parts starts?
My two kids are completely opposite-- my U10 needs a "great try kids-- we'll get 'em next time" while my U14 would rather have someone drop an "f"bomb now and then and call a spade a spade. If she is sucking that day, tell her she is sucking that day. Neither kid is right or wrong.....it is just the style they respond to. I would say that my oldest would do well under either Zec or Dames -- my younger one would not.
Good point, some kids respond to it, others don't. if your son/daughter does respond to this type of coaching, and likes to be challenged in this way, than either of these coaches would be good to play under. They are both more than just yellers though, they will help your son/daughter get better, and they will learn a great deal about how to play the game, and what it takes to play the game at the highest level. just be prepared to hear some interesting stories of what was said at halftime/postgame/at practice (it might be better just not to ask to be honest )
That's not even remotely true. Nobody on the current U14 team was recruited by Batata. I highly doubt the U13 team, either.
Only the evil empire of the magic recruits players duuuuuuuh haha only kidding, i wont hijack the thread...back to eclipse!
Someone who knows more about the inner workings of Eclipse can help me with this. On the girls side it appears that although they have East/West/South, the "top" team is still designated as Eclipse Select, is this correct? Assuming it is, why would the boys side not do the same. I say this because it appears that the Wind West team at U13 (caoched by Zec) is one of the better teams in the state, so why wouldn't they be called HUSA Eclipse Gold (as the older top teams are on the boys side) or simply Eclipse Select like the top girls teams?
Actually, that's probably true. Well, except for the evil part. I have no problem with recruiting. Some clubs do it a lot, some not so much. Doesn't bother me one bit. On the Eclipse naming thing, if you can sort that out, please do so. I am hopelessly confused with whom Eclipse is aligned, and what all these names mean.
haha I know I was just giving you a hard time (although I'm sure Craig Capano played for the Sockers because he liked the climate better than NY ). But ya I would really appreciate it if someone who knew about how Eclipse comes up with team designations and what they mean and all that stuff to let us in on it. Thanks.
After looking over their web site I thinks it's easy to see that the teams that are Select are their "A" teams and the Premier teams would be their "b" team. I also noticed that the web site is not up to date in regard to the teams and their current age brackets. Zec only has 1 boy's team and it is out of the west location in Geneva and this season they are U-13. All other teams below U-13 for the boys are Team Chicago teams and on the girls side it is all teams below U-14 are Team Chicago. That's at their South and West locations only.
You know I've been reading and posting here and one name nobody has brought up is Mike Nesci. I have heard it said that Mike is the glue that holds the Eclipse together. I have heard from several players on the girls side that if Mike wasn't around they would look elsewhere. Any input on this out there?
I also have heard that once Nesci took over as director of the girls side, Eclipse really grew to what they are. Him and Rory seem to have a little good cop/bad cop thing going on over there that really is working well. I don't know much about him, and he seems to not mind being in Rory's shadow (atleast from those on the outside) which says good things about his ego.