What resources are Inter missing? inter and Galaxy are the same distance from Oak Brook but eclipse does all ECNL girls in Northbrook
Yeah I forgot that they were in NB. I noticed that their office is in Alrington Heights. So where does that mean the OB branch will end up? Does Inter have it's own indoor facility? Coaches have proper licenses and so on? You may be correct about the same case for Galaxy.
Eclipse will still have the oak Brook branch for u8-u12 and non ECNL teams. Eclipse ECNL doesn’t even really train indoors anymore. They practice outside until December and start up again for a few weeks in February before high school starts. I am sure the Galaxy and Inter do more than that. Also do license’s even matter? I didn’t realize that was an ECNL requirement. Like someone said the Midwest old boys club is in full effect to suppress competition in talent rich areas.
Eclipse has indoor facility in Darien so it's not really a true statement that winter program is not existing
The field is tiny and, I could be wrong, but I don’t think the ECNL teams do a lot of training there. My understanding that it was primarily used by the u8-u12 oak Brook teams.
Was a time where there were requirements to be considered for either ECNL or DA. I thought that included indoor field resources, multiple aged teams performing at the top, minimal license requirements (less then DA) and so on... Perhaps Eclipse is not a good example since the league (CL) seems to let them get away with anything.
A few years back I heard that time at Darian was minimal due to other tennant usage as well. Sounded worse then some smaller club access.
The guy who runs Darien is a former Eclipse coach and is still close to the OB staff. Eclipse has always trained at multiple locations in the winter, they do not care when and where they send you, it is your problem. We trained in Dekalb, we trained in Indiana, we trained at every indoor location around the Chicago area. The least favorite was probably 8 am Saturday sessions in Dekalb, pretty sure some of the North Shore people just got hotels every weekend.
Wow! Looks like the Chicago Bears are moving to Arlignton Heights - having signed a purchase agreement for nearly $200 million. They recently turned down an offer from the Chicago mayor to build a dome at Soldier Field so it appears it's all just a matter of time. Their current contract ends in 2033 but they have made statements that the profit from thier own field would greatly surpass any breach of contract (leaving earlier then 2033). So where does that put Sockers - with their home just across the street? Certainly Route 14 will be expanded and some properties will likely be acquired to invest in the overall area - which needs a ton of work. At the very least this will by an access nightmare for the club and it's indoor season(s). At worst, all that propoerty is acquired by the village (Palatine) who already said that they are ready to work with AH to bring the Bears to the old race track.
Sockers back in State Cup??? Wow https://system.gotsport.com/org_event/events/16500/schedules?group=115247
Nice to have them back. Those US Club competitions are so inconsistent. Another interesting this is how a team can win the national presidents cup and not be forced to enter the state cup the next season.
Yeah I agree - they should have had their pre-academy and second teams in State Cup and MWC years ago. NPL on the girls side is incredibly weak.
Not really. St. Louis Gallagher, a local Rush team (not sure which one) and Evolution seem to be the opposition in most age brackets for the girls. I recall the field was larger and more interesting last year as CUP came and brought a lot of strong teams. In any event this is the tourney where Eclipse mixes all the girls in the pool together in various ways for an extended tryout before eventually assigning the Ecnl teams in a couple weeks, so any results should be taken with a grain of salt. Plus it’s very much preseason for everyone so maybe other teams are doing the same. But regardless it looks like great weather for anyone to be playing this weekend!
With what happened with Rockford this past season, going into the Regional League and getting promoted to the ECNL. I 100% percent expect the same to happen this season with one of.... Evolution, Libertyville or Chicago Inter being promoted next year as those are the Chicago area RL teams. I personally think it'll be Libertyville or Evolution, whoever has the better overall record from all the age groups I'm guessing.
Well if history holds true. Evo and Libertyville are too close to Eclipse. Inter would be the only candidate IMO. Now normally I would throw in the Fox Valley in here but Strikers are not a serious high level club - despite having solid resources. Campton really does not understand how to run a high level program and CSA have imploded - least talent of all three this season. Again I'll ask... Why not Chicago Rush?
I guess what would be the case for Chicago Rush? Maybe it was covered in an earlier page from the fall. I’ve admit to limited knowledge of the club other than (I) they seem to have multiple local branches/ locations so which one (or it is just the top team from everywhere, and located tbd) and (ii) I don’t see nearly the track level of achievement of the other teams mentioned at the USYS level. As a national franchise they I think have a couple teams in ECNL already (Colorado, maybe one other).
With so many teams one would think they would be able to pull in enough talent to field an ECNL effort. Raptors are the low end of the bar and I think they would rank higher in terms of talent. If they have the resources - wouldn't they be a good candidate - far enough away from Eclipse and so on?
I would be shocked if any RL team gets a full ECNL badge. Just look at the Nationals in Michigan. Possibly one the of the top clubs in the country and since they are near one the original ECNL founders (Hawks) they cannot get into the ECNL. Hypothetically, if ECNL were to award another girls badge based on quality, it has to be Inter or Galaxy over Libertyville and Evolution. Since Inter has the RL badge already, I would guess that they would get the nod over Galaxy. 2022: National Championships: Galaxy 2, Libertyville 1, Inter 0, Evol 0 National Champ qualifiers: Galaxy 2, Libertyville 2, Inter 2, Evol 1 National Champ records: Galaxy 9-0-1, Libertyville 4-0-1 , Inter 5-2, Evol 0-3 Regional Champ qualifiers: Galaxy 2, Libertyville 1, Inter 2, Evol 2 Regional Champs: Galaxy 0, Libertyville 0, Inter 1, Evol 0 NL Pro Qualifiers: Galaxy 3, Libertyville 1, Inter 3, Evol 2 NL Pro group winners: Galaxy 2, Libertyville 1, Inter 2, Evol 0 State Champs: Galaxy 2, Libertyville , Inter 2, Evol 0 State Cup finalists: Galaxy 4, Libertyville, Inter 2, Evol 0 With all this being said, I still doubt there will be any REAL ECNL badges given in the near future.
How about another GA badge - just thinking on that yesterday. With Raptors and likely one more (I agree with Inter), plus all the RL clubs... Where is GA in all of this? If Inter does get an ECNL badge, Galaxy and/or Evo would be a good move for GA to pick up.
I have a hard time believing the GA will expand more. Two teams in the greater Chicagoland seems about right, same with ECNL, if they add Libertyville or Inter. Rockford and Central IL are far enough away from the population centers to not have an impact. But if the GA or ECNL gets three teams it will be pretty diluted.
I'm sure you guys are right. You have a better sense down there than I do. My whole thing is.... These clubs to make that switch and are putting their top teams in the RL, and I don't think they're doing it for fun. I think these teams are going the RL with and wink and a nod, that if you're good enough you'll get to play with the big girls in the ECNL. For instance, Evolution for my daughter's age group finished 4th last year. They did ok at regionals and were in line for the conference system PRO this season. But they are not participating in the PRO season, and I can only assume it's because they want to try to win the RL. I could be horribly wrong here and jumping to conclusions. But all these teams willingly joining a "B" League is eye opening to me at least. And speaking of Nationals in Michigan. They're a strange one, because I've heard that the ECNL would absolutely have them, but Nationals are happy being THE club in Michigan for GA and just dominating them. It's all crazy, so we'll see what happens.