Same rumor I heard, from somebody who told somebody. Meaning, I have only the vaguest of evidence, not that such a thing ever stopped me from posting before.
I can honestly say that I have personally spoken to Nesci, and we discussed Coach Dames (he coaches my daughter's age group). I had questions for him, and he spoke highly of Coach Dames. Actually, this exact topic was brought up and he agreed that if my daughter was looking for a Coach with the old fashioned "killer instinct" style.....that Coach Dames was the right person. I really do think that he is the type of Coach my child likes to play for.
Heard lots of talk lately about some changes coming within the Eclipse coaching ranks. I'm not sure what they will be but I did hear something about a coach coming down from Canada to maybe be a director but not sure at which location. From what I have read here it would make sence to have Zec take over all the boy's now that they have HUSA and Team Chicago and bring in someone else to take over the girls down there. The North is their strong location so why mess with it. I have watched Mike Nesci coach and have spoken to parents as well as players who love Mike as a coach and person, he seem's more suited for the girls game where as Zec is more suited for the boys side. We will just have to wait and see.
I don't think there ever were or are plans to have Zec coach on the girls side. He was brought in to help jump start the boys side along with other coaching additions in the last 2 or 3 years. It seems like 2 or 3 times a year rumors pop up about Eclipse and Magic joining up together...if that ever happens it would be very impressive, but also it would be interesting to see where the various coaches "sit" in terms of who would be in charge and what not. I think its more of a pipe dream than a reality, but wow that would be scary.
That's funny because Zec has been coaching 2 girls teams and 1 boy's team both out of the Geneva location for the past several seasons so I don't think your info is correct or up to date.
I'm not saying that he won't or isn't as a stop gap...but I doubt the long term plans are to have him work on the girls side. He might have to do it from time to time if he is needed, but his style is much better suited for the guys (as has been discussed at length).
Not too long ago someone mentioned how the Eclipse teams shifted players from different teams to achieve their Regional wins (or something to that affect). In other words, players who might have been playing league games on older teams were brought to age appropriate teams to help the team achieve their goal of winning at Regionals. I know that may be regarded as controversial, but not as far as I am concerned. In any case, I was trying to find the post and can't find it in this thread. Does anyone know who posted it and where it was posted?
I believe there was some discussion in the Magic vs Sockers thread about this subject revolving around the Eclipse current U-17 team. Even though I have daughter who does not play for Eclipse, I have said in the past that doing stuff like this is part of Rory's genius as a winner. And, finding a way to get all of his teams qualified for Regionals does contribute to his standing as the #1 girls club. I did check the MRL standings today and he has succeeded with his plan so far. But now that the team is qualified for Regionals - will he put those he moved back to their regular team for State Cup and Regionals because they cannot play for two different teams at those venues and the team he stripped them from to help the U17 team I believe are defending Champions. The great part of what he has done for the team is that they will now get exposed to a major throng of college scouts who attend the Regionals.
If you check the Eclipse website and look at their tryout information you will see that they have assigned the DOC's to the 4 Chicagoland locations. Rory may be hard as well as Zec but they sure know how to "tweek" the system in their favor. As long as they are staying within the rules why not?
Seems like Eclipse has been making a lot of new announcements and staff changes lately...is this just puting the finishing touches on all the mergers that have occured lately? I think that Wind (and Sockers to a lesser extent) should be a little worried about what Eclipse could be doing for the boys side. With their "home" in Libertyville they could start cutting into the player pools that these 2 clubs currently are fighting for. With the guy from HUSA coming over, and being teamed with Zec, where does that leave Maze in terms of the boys side?
FC United currently is the stronger threat. They seem to be building a strong boys program there, at what once was called Trevians.
FC United will be good but Eclipse will be better........once they get the Hinsdale/Oak Brook training for Boys up and running they'll attract a lot of players.
Lou Reina is a very good youth soccer coach. Give him a couple of years and he will have Eclipse East playing at high levels, with the top 1/4 of those players playing for the combined teams for tournies.
Too large growth = poorer quality control? Bread & Butter Eclipse teams not as successful as last year. Eclipse U12G out in first round, Eclipse 13G out in semifinals. Condolences Toxoman. Eclipse U14G did win it all though and older ages all looking good.
Is this the same Eclipse team that was at Beaverton last week? The same team that was at Surf Cup last year?
Thanks for the condolences Stinky.... I know from the 13s perspective, the growth of the club had nothing to do with the loss in the semis -- we had essentially the same team that won as U12s and just did not play well enough for 70 minutes to advance -- that 13 team had a pretty good run this year (winning WAGS and the Ohio Elite tournament) -- just collectively did not do enough to win on Saturday....
Brian Maze is no longer coaching with Eclipse. Scroll down the front page of the Eclipse web site. It has announcments on who is who at Eclipse in terms of recent appointments.
ok... i was just wondering since they left him out if he was going to be doing something else with the organization... thanks
I read this thread with fascination because I'm a parent considering signing my U10 daughter up for the Eclipse. Wow, what drama. So, my question is this: With all the acquisitions and alliances, is the Eclipse somewhere you'd people recommend? I can't really tell what's going on there with so many moving pieces. She's a skilled, serious player for her age. But she is still just 9 years old. Any guidance would be appreciated.
Check the website, but I am not sure they have a team for your daughter's age group. Eclipse initially was up north for 7th grade and up, with GLSA being a somewhat of a limited feeder program. Eclipse coaches coach the GLSA teams. The other team areas (west, south etc...) have been through other club acquisitions. So not every geographical area has a all age groups. I am sure down the road they would love to have the younger girls but in the past the focus has been on the older girls. Which area were you looking at ?
The bad news is, girls teams are worse than boys teams for this stuff. The good news is, it gets better as the kids get older, plus as a parent you have a choice -- if you like (which I recommend), you can just keep your distance. Let others hobnob and do the talking, just smile politely and move away. If she's a good and serious player, you'll generally want to move her off a community team as fast as possible, and onto a club such as Eclipse.