More then Eclipse and more then Sockers - that I do know. Of course I am assuming this is for basic league play since you mention the club is not a major one. That also seems to go way against the trend of making youth soccer more affordable.
The top coach has been banned from MRL - that will hurt a bit since that is there "DA" Chicago Magic seems to be moving forward despite what now appears to be a partial liquidation to FCU. They have integrated with TS-Pro which is a smaller Polish club. May be a good idea as Polish clubs are becoming more prevelant. Chicago Rush now has 71 boys teams, 46 girls teams - just in the YSSL & IWSL and 91 coaches. I understand what the concept is but how long can that be managed??? One could consider them the largest club in the state. Eclipse starts a new era with DD at the helm and just 9 teams. It will be interesting to see how that builds out over the next few seasons. His former Inferno is in life support with just one girls team out in Crystal Lake. And then there is the opening season of the GDA vs ECNL.
"Didn't a club director up there recently have a warrant out for his arrest because he swerved his vehicle menacingly towards an opponents player/family in a parking lot after a match?" My friend played a tournament game against an adult club called the NY Albanians years ago. His team was beating their team 4-0. That team was sponsored by the Albanian mafia in the Bronx. My friends has three of his adult children on his team. Well the Albanians could not handle losing evidently. So the elbows were flying towards the end of this game. Officials were afraid to make calls against those guys. My friends youngest son about 23 was caught in the face. I guess being a loving father took over his roll as the manager. He goes out on the field to confront the player that fouled his son. Next thing you know Dad is jumped by Albanians. He manages to get away and runs to his car. He gets out a tire iron and wants to go back. I stopped him I told him do that they will take the tire iron off him and hit him with it. So if you really want to get them get in your car and just run them over until their were no more left. Then he saw the light and he stopped. What you said reminded me of what happen that day.
I am amazed when I hear that kind of number. I have seen very very good kids parents pay that much to play. One kid was Chris Armis the D.C. united defensive mid. Here when a player is that good clubs fight for him. He or his parents always play for free. In fact if the parents were new to this country and needed a job. The club would find the parents job and find him a job when he is not playing.
I heard 2 eclipse coaches were caught showing extra attention to some of the moms at the club. One got fired but quickly landed somewhere else. The other has been caught before but again was retained. My sources told me the dad hired a PI and he came up with the proof. Sounds like they need a reality show
The eclipse will be running their top teams in ecnl up until 15 and 16. The second tier during that time will be in da. At 15 and 16 they will rotate because that is the age group where the da has the most exposure.
I think that is the only club with GDA and ECNL other than SLSG. Sockers will have IWSL/NPL/GDA and I believe FCU will be IWSL/MRL/GDA. I would not be surprised however if FCU also gets into the ECNL for many reasons.
What I have been told and read is that the ECNL kicked out any club that Joined DA with the exception of original member clubs (I think 18-20? Clubs allowed to keep both). In the Midwest that is Eclipse and Michigan Hawks. SLSG was not given DA, I suspect there was some discussion about either both SLSG clubs get DA or they would both stay ECNL (but that is just a suspicion) I would be very surprised if another Illinois team is given both ECNL and DA. Removing Sockers from ECNL is wonderful for Eclipse as they are the only club in Illinois with both and they are strongly represented in both the ECNL Midwest and ECNL national Board of directors. A question for VolkP – Did you hear the DA ECNL top team scoop from a reliable source? I had heard that the DA is the top team for both Hawks and Eclipse. It kind of makes sense as both have Youth national team camp invitees, and DA has hinted you better be on a DA team if you want an invite. It would be hard to sell “our ECNL is the top team except for the national team players in DA”
DA is really not a big deal until 15/16 so that's why Eclipse is moving forward that way. Now that could have changed but that would not really make sense - especially in a club(s) as deep as Hawks and Eclipse.
First set of results in for girls DA U14 eclipse 4 FCU 0 U15 eclipse 1 FCU 0 U16/17 FCU 3 Eclipse 2 U18/19 eclipse 6 FCU 0 The u18/19 eclipse is definitely their strongest girls in that age group lead by 3 national teamers Sockers played Indiana Fire U14 lost 4-1 U15 not posted U16/17 lost 1-0 U18/19 won 3-0
I guess they are a hybrid of sorts... Not able to get into the top echelon (DA/ECNL) they are taking the pooled approached to fill the next levels (MRL/NPL). Frankly I think it's a great move because it will provide more opportunities for top players who maybe don't have the cash or time to commit to ECNL or DA. There are scholarships to be had fro MRL play - typically for the top players so it's not a fruitless effort. Hard part will be managing the locations I imagine.
BTW, the more I look at it, the more MRL is a joke if you don't play in the MRL Premiere division. There are teams that won 2 games in Ill MRL qualification over Spring and Fall of last year and are in "the MRL".
Just saw a bud who I played soccer with (60 million years ago) who went to FCU last season after having issues at Sockers. Apparently they are back and according to him - despite him still having issues with Sockers, FCU is a "logistical nightmare across the board". I've heard a few things that the business of soccer at FCU is ran similar to the dog and pony show that Magic put on after they pulled out of Frankfort and dug in at Highland Park. Lots of promises broken and nepotism at hand. For my buddy to come back with 2 kids... It could not have been good. But maybe it's him
NPL is not much better on the girls side IMO. By half wewere killing Rush 3-0 and a parent asked - isn't this the same team we played last season. Nope - they went to MRL. US Youth and US Club really need to combine above regular league play (IWSL/YSSL/NISL). This shit is just killing the game.