Changing Landscapes - Chicagoland

Very interesting stuff.
Will we be able to stream it?
Also whats up with fc united not being ranked? I know they aren't as strong this year but they have defineitly played enough to get ranked.

 

The FCU MLS team is ranked, and shows up somewhere near mid-pack at #38 on the spreadsheet. But below is what is shown for the Academy II team. Maybe that same team has played more than this under a different name, or maybe the Academy II team is really named something else, but looking at the team names alone; this is it.

 

Galaxy /Evolution ?

 

So there has been some news leaked out tonight that might indirectly involve some Chicago area clubs.

Seems like the cat is out of the bag with Nationals moving from the GA to ECNL.

This may affect Evolution indirectly. If Nationals gets two teams in ECNL, like they currently have with GA, it changes nothing for opposing teams and travel. A weekend trip to Detroit for Saturday and Sunday game against their two teams.

That leaves Evolution odd club out as they might need another club to come in to be a travel buddy since the odd number between Illinois and Wisconsin messes up the travel buddy system.

Or, if Nationals only gets one team in, then Nationals and Liverpool will be travel buddies opening up a hypothetical spot for evolution to buddy up with a team like Midwest United in Grand rapids.

Bottom line, Evolution might have hard time getting ECNL this year, based on nothing other than bad luck and odd numbers.

Or another option is ECNL scraps the travel buddy system all together. I don't see it and I don't see evolution getting in this year.

Oh, and Nationals leaving GA isn't the only one. At least 3 other big clubs from he GA are switching over as well.

 

who are the 3 other clubs from the GA that supposedly leaving for ECNL?

 

heard there was a mandatory parent meeting at Galaxy, but I’m not sure on any specifics. Only possible changes with the club.

 

Sounds like ECNL is going to try and put the GA out of business. Depending on the other clubs leaving, but assuming it’s some of the strong teams, like Top Hat, CUP, etc… it would be a bad situation for the GA.

 

According to this, rumors include:

But no real links to press releases, just rumors at this point.

 

Any idea what this announcement from Girls Academy about full membership in US Soccer means? Seems like interesting timing as the rumors flew around this week about the league’s ultimate demise.

 

Feels like something E64 (a middling league that few coaches watch) would post.

If these rumors - especially Nationals - were not true, Nationals would come out and squash the rumors. They haven't.

 

It was first told to me that it was going to be Nationals, Lonestar in Texas, a northeast team maybe STA, TSJ in Virginia, and possibly Philly Ukraine.

That was corrected partially by someone else. TSJ is very much up in the air as they are having many internal problems, and STA very much is not switching.

The solid locks seem to be Nationals, Lonestar, and Colorado Rush. According to many others, even on that So Cal forum seems to think that Ukies will another and NEFC will be the northeast team. Some keep saying CUP, but other than those three I've heard that are locked in. I've got nothing else.

 

nationals would be the most impactful in the Midwest but I think that rumor is an annual one that flies around. Bad blood between nationals and Ecnl would make that something else if it happens.

 

You're certainly not incorrect. I think the difference this time is the people who are saying it have been very correct in the past on some things like this.

Only time will tell how accurate all of these people are. But just the fact that some of the things that are getting out now are the same things I've been told multiple times in the past and are lining up, specifically regarding Nationals.

We'll see.

 

Boys Mls Next Soccer help Chicagoland

I know much of this forum lately has been more on the female side, but I was hoping to get some info on the mls next boys clubs in the Chicago area. I have looked back a bit but I cannot find a ton of up to date info and insight.

My son is 11 yr and has become very interested in soccer. He has been scouted and asked to play on the mls next team for one of the 3 mls next clubs in the area for the coming year. We are trying to get more information on the 3 clubs Sockers, FCU and Fire or anything else people wish to share.

We will take pretty much anything people have, first hand knowledge, second hand knowledge, clear trends or hearsay. We have had some trouble getting much info and would be very grateful for any help anyone can give.

We do know some of these might be hard to answer and certainly everything is an opinion rather than fact, but just hoping to get whatever info everyone has. Maybe there are some here who have even been at several of them during their time.

These are some questions we are wondering

What does an mls next life look like? How much are the kids traveling and what is their life like?

Hoping for info for each of the three clubs on any of the following info.
-Particular culture for each club?
-Particular style of play for each club?
-Particular coaching style and/or personality?
-Soccer development? Meaning do certainly clubs develop them better and other ones recruit talent and hope they gel?
-Particular formations they always use or use all different formations?
-Competitiveness within the club. Meaning how good are the players at each club, how hard is it to get playing time and/or starting positions?
-Competitiveness with other clubs. Meaning how good do the teams tend to be compared to other mls next clubs
-Cost of each club give or take?
-Have read some places about online schooling for certainly clubs (Fire), is this a must? What age would that start at?
-General happiness of the kids and parents at each club?

Is mls next really that much better than everything else for boys? Are there any other clubs or situations in the area that are as good or close?

Thank you again for anyone's help, really appreciate your time and input.

 

it’s official. Nationals into ECNL. You fine Sir were correct. Not sure how the GA in the Midwest will backfill that club.

 

I do not know much about them. Saw in another forum on this topic, a poster refer to them as good club, with crazy parents, and some parent coaches that can hold some of their teams back… FWIW

 

On the girls side, Nationals is #16 club in nation, Ukrainian Nationals is #54, and Colorado Rush is #149. On the boys side, they show #21, #175, and #654 respectively.

The Ukies show 30 separate girls teams and 32 boys teams on SR. Those #'s are just an estimate, as it's likely that there are some teams that aren't showing up yet and some teams that show that are no longer playing, but any way they are looked at, it is a large club with a significant number of teams.

The big story is the Nationals, which overshadows the move of the other two.

 

Colorado Rush is the 3rd strongest Rush affiliate nationwide, behind Missouri Rush and Florida Kraze Rush - none of them are in the top #100. Colorado Rush shows 5th in state, 35 girls teams and 34 boys teams, so it certainly is sizable - but not nearly as large as some other clubs.

The announcement as far as I can tell isn't that Rush joined ECNL, it's just one club of many.

 

Just saw an ECNL social media post. But yea, Lonestar out of Texas is the last big chip to fall. After that I don't know.

Nationals is obviously Nationals. That's a big blow for the GA.

Ukies is a big deal on the girls side, have earned a reputation of being very good in the GA.

And I'm assuming the Rush Logo was Colorado Rush who are another of the top GA teams.

 

That's a lot of questions, and it might be better to talk over coffee or a beer. My son is a year or two older than yours. We're on the south side of the city, so unfortunately Sockers is not an option. But yes, I would agree with Volk that, at least by reputation, Sockers is the best developmentally. I had a friend whose son was there for a year, but the commute was too grueling. But they were really impressed with the coaching and the philosophy while they were there and have never been happy elsewhere. Chicago Fire Academy is obviously the least expensive--it's free. It has a reputation for liking big, physical players, or flashy dribblers, or ideally both. Of the kids I saw picked up from Chicago Fire Youth Soccer Club, none of them were what I call great passers. I have two friends who do the commute to FC United and they are happy with the club. But with the younger of the two, the goal is to get to Fire. Because one has a hope of getting to MLS Next Pro, Fire easily has the greatest gravitational pull. Notwithstanding the good feelings of the two friends at FC United, it easily has the lowest reputation of the three, and has been called an academy in name only from some of my other friends. I haven't seen any of these teams play a match in years, so I'm a bit limited there.