I was under the impression that GA teams played games in the spring. It looks like Sockers and FCU have games but not Central Illinois. I think if Galaxy can allow players to do high school that it would be a selling point.
I assumed the same thing, but I have a buddy whose kid plays on Galaxy and he mentioned that the GA girls will be allowed to play HS soccer. Personally, I think that it is great for kids to have high level platforms that still give families the ability to play or not play with their HS teams/school friends/siblings.
I believe a few weeks ago central IL announced they were moving to a full year program for their GA teams. So they are going in the opposite direction. I think most girls prefer the option of playing for their high school, but I also see the cons into cramming that much soccer into fall and spring.
Yes but 90% of parents are donkeys and 50% of Eclipse "promised" ECNL seats are BS lies. One can expect Eclipse to continue that practice and everyone can expect donkey parents moving there kids to Eclipse on their senior year to eventually play on the second or third team. "RL" essentially legitimizes this while deflating MWC completely.
Completely agree. Eclipse has been doing this for years.. Try out, commit, and pay in April, and find out which team you make in August. It'll be interesting to see if Galaxy and/or Inter will follow the same pattern. They both have tryouts starting next week. That's perfect timing to capitalize on everyone's panic to secure their spot. I know of at least a couple parents at my kid's club who are calling the DOC to find out "What are you going to do for us now?" So, the panic is real. It's unfortunate, but it's real.
I doubt Galxay will but maybe Inter? In the order I see it - based on Chicagoland and girls soccer exclusively... GA - more stable and overall more talent for consistent games. - FCU - Sockers - Central Illinois - Galaxy ECNL - Total mess! Eclipse are way beyond the other clubs - overll, lop-sided. - Eclipse - Raptors - Inter ECRL - Killed MWC, I'd like to know the end game here. Are they going to replace MWC or just dilluting the waters? - Eclipse - Rockfor Raptors - Inter - 1974 (Libertyville) - Evolution National Elite 64 - The answer to a question no one asked - literally destroying themselves! - Galaxy - 1974 - Raptors - Inter Club V Club - The answer to a question no one asked - literally destroying themselves! - Galaxy - Evolution - FCU MWC - Prem I - Now Prem II and Conf Qualifier teams for 2023. What do the solid teams left do in this case? - Evolution - Galaxy - Crystal Lake Force - Chicago Rush - ELA - Inter - LaGrange Celtics - Campton (Demoted to Prem II) Basically if you are not playing in one of those, you probably are not playing in college. I would add if you are not at least in Prem II, you're probably noy making varsity high school play until you are a junior. That's part of my frustration as well because I have seen many freshman and sophmores just quit soccer because they relied on local clubs playing in the B and C divisions since they were U8/U10. They tryout for varsity and realize just how massive the divide really is. We had a mom of a sophmore who thought she should have made Varsity as a freshmen. The mom was so mad she created a team around her daughter and put her in an indoor travel league. The team was destroyed completely and now they are both done with the sport. Yes parents bare some responsilibity but clubs began creating a false reality that parents who never played the sport bought into - "We're National Champions!". No you are National Super Y Champions. While that example is not a false statement technically, it is very misleading to parents who do not understand the platforms of play. I remember a mother years ago bragging on about how her daughters team was moving to IWSL A division and that she wanted to play D1 soccer... This mother had no idea what MRL was or what ECNL was and that what she was saying was a product of her club creating a false reality. All of this needs to be fixed. We need a national discussion that parents can watch and understand. Maybe CL could do this now that he has free time? Oh no crap - I forgot he's out chasing ECNL $$$ on his new role as a travel agent
IWSL no longer has restrictions on tryouts so all clubs can start tryouts at anytime. It used to be that tryouts were at the end of the season, then the week of Memorial Day, then mid-May. Now o am seeing non GA/ECNL/MLS Next club’s advertising tryouts for April. That is going to tough on team morale for the spring season of players are dropped teams or move to other clubs.
GA/ECNL/MLS Next is one thing but for a local club to make kids trying out for next year when they are 3 weeks into the spring season is pretty crazy.
The problem is, as the big boys at the top move tryouts earlier, the mid level, then bottom levels need to keep moving earlier to keep up. You can't have tryouts in Mid-May when all of your local competition are doing it weeks earlier. Going to make a real mess out of any games played after the second week of May, and forget about games into June...
A frequent topic here is whether Chicagoland clubs playing in the top leagues should "allow" players to play high school soccer. Here's a tweet thread from a local college coach with her perspective (content pasted, followed by link to her tweets): Dear recruits, It’s true that you can play high school soccer and club soccer, AND go on to play collegiately (div 1, 2, 3, NAIA). For IL players and parents that think I’m out of touch, check in on our neighbors in STL and MKE (GA and ECNL). They model this. Being told otherwise by your club is baseless, driven by ego and money. Also, being threatened that you’ll lose your Fall club roster spot if you play HS, well, that’s a shame and it’s gone on far too long in this state. Kids, play high school or don’t play high school. But I’m a firm believer that the choice should be YOURS. 1/3 Dear recruits,It’s true that you can play high school soccer and club soccer, AND go on to play collegiately (div 1, 2, 3, NAIA). For IL players and parents that think I’m out of touch, check in on our neighbors in STL and MKE (GA and ECNL). They model this.— Angela Staveskie (@BigAng04) March 30, 2023
I don't know about St. Louis, but in Wisconsin, the State allows some overlap between playing for a club and playing for the high school. Here in good 'ol ISHA governed Illinois, being on a club roster even once tryouts start is forbidden. IHSA should relax its rules.
IHSA allows a maximum of 25 contests (not including playoffs, regionals, etc) so doing that AND participating in a club season would be nearly impossible. The amount of overuse injuries would be through the roof. Combining high school practice with club practice and games for each just doesn't seem like it would be smart.
That's part of the problem. First, 8th graders get a raw deal because of the birth year mandate. Most 8th graders would, of course, prefer a 10 month program. Second, high school soccer is the very definition of overuse. Practice Monday through Friday for 2 hours a day plus games. All the while, who's in charge? Oh yeah, the school's science teacher. Best way not to play your club position in high school: tell him/her your club position. "I've been 'coaching' soccer here at XYZ high school for 10 years and I know my stuff - you are a defender!". High school soccer - amazing for fun and friendship, but bad for skills and getting hurt.
And yet, fun and friendship is an extremely important part of developing into a stable adult. I had kids who played HS and who skipped HS and while in most cases HS soccer sucks, not a single one of my kids would give back the experience, including the one who quit mid season after a dispute with an idiot coach. We need to stop forcing our kids to focus on one thing and let them experience a wide variety of life experiences, they will be so much the better for it.
You just described my kids situation exactly. 8th grader that barely gets a spring season while the majority of her club team plays high school soccer. And yes, the high school soccer coach also happens to be the science teacher
Do they not allow 2008’s to play with the 2009s for the spring? That used be a be a rule that players could be grandfathered into the younger age for the season that their teammates were playing high school.
I thought so as well, but that has not materialized. There is only a handful of 8th graders and some live far away so I feel likes it’s not a priority. We had about 4 league games on schedule, 2 already canceled due to weather. She will train with 2009s. Play in their league games? That hasn’t been offered yet plus they have a full roster. She will do the odp tournament in June, plus a league showcase in June, and middle school track. It just sucks to lose a whole spring season due to this birth year division
Not sure where you are from but in the Chicagoland area it’s hard to argue that HS varsity coaches aren’t as qualified as the top end of the club coaching world. Some examples: Fremd (Steve Keller IU), Barrington (Ryan Stengren Akron), Naperville North (Goletz Niu), Waubonsie (Bergstrom NIU), Wheaton South (Callipari Canadian National team) and the list goes on and on! The era of some random teacher coaching varsity soccer is long gone in most places. Over use injuries related to HS schedule is Not sure where you are from but in the Chicagoland area, I think that the quality of HS coaches can certainly rival local club coaches. Some examples: Fremd (Keller Indiana U) Barrington ( Stengren, Akron,) Naperville North (Goletz Niu), Waubonsie (Bergstrom NIU), Wheaton South (Callipari, Canadian National Team) ….. Club soccer coaches have always complained about HS schedules being the cause of overuse injuries, then turn around and play in 3 leagues and multiple tournaments. Not saying that youth soccer shouldn’t strive to do better in taking care of our athletes, but club soccer complaining about HS soccer is like the pot calling the kettle black.
I recall many arguments over this with a few members here who were blasting the DA year round - and then the ECNL year-round platforms. Many times I pointed out that the folks bashing this in support of high school play did not recognize that IHSA was essentially doing the same thing. That said - I don't think it would work unless high school (which they should) move to a club-like training & game platform - practice 3 times a week and games on weekends with an optional 4 thraining session. Mostly because high school players need recovery time - especially those seniors who have already signed for college play. In-directly this would also open up 2 days for a high school player to train with their club if they choose to - so that they would not be missing high school sessions which we all know is a big deal in high school.