There are many clubs in the rockford area and this appears to be another club that lacks numbers. Looking at the website some players play on multiple teams. The website is well set up but I have a hard time believing that a club with 3 teams can support a full time college liason and the number of coaches they have listed. Only time with tell the viability of this club.
Take my advice and stay away from the Raptors. It's all about head count and not about the players ability. Then you have a few coaches who are amazing and then there are many who are on a ego trip. One issue brought to them and you child will get the backlash. Politics runs deep within that organization. They will give you the sales pitch that your child is great..blah blah blah....don't fall for it. I'm eager to try anything new.
The landscape of craptacular soccer in Illinois grows every year. People think they are solving problems but in the end they are producing players who won't go on to college and more and more players who don't even play into high school because many of these clubs play to win and do nothing to instill a sense of passion/love and basic fundementals of the game.
Sometimes I am very glad I live in the “other” Illinois…the one below I80….not saying things are prefect downstate, but things up north sound batshit crazy…
Yeah that's very interesting actually. In some towns we have 3-4 clubs. One town over we'll have 3 clubs. Go the other direction and there are 2 clubs. Tons of new clubs popping up because most of the old school comm clubs are dead. New leaders think they can do it better - all are playing to win - all of them! Even at a u8 age which is pretty bad.
New to this forum and recently moved to the Rockford area. Would like some feedback regarding clubs in the area before I meet with the individual clubs and get their "sell job"
Likely you'll have a far commute if you are in Rockford. As far as Peak Academy is concerned... Girls side is limited - older ages with 4 teams. Two are in the C division and the older ones up but that's not difficult given a lot of kids drop out in the high school range. An "A" team at u17 is like a "B" team at u12 IMO. They list Tokoto as a coach who used to be at Magic and before that had his own club - a great coach from what I have heard but frankly I am not certain what level his involvement is at the club. I would ask that question specifically if I was considering this outfit for boy or girl. They also have Peter Glon who is pretty good as well - but again I would ask whether he would be training with your player(s) On the boys side they have 4 teams as well... Not sure what is "on" with this area, Used to have Rock Run - which is all but out of the business, Dactyls - which integrated with Raptors. Raptors (IMO) has been a disappointment. They have LosingMyToes brother and his wife owns/runs it. When Louis was drafted into Magic I know there was hopes that Raptors would become a Magic location but that was not the case. Their numbers last year were not strong. There are some Mexican clubs out there which I would not rule out at all. PM me if you need a contact - we had some players who went that route a few years back because of location and commuting specifically. Good luck!
Looking at websites (now I know that is what it is) but there appears to be a larger number of teams for raptors than what you mention for Peak so Peak must have really low numbers. What level are raptor teams? Looks like they compete in MRL, and some national level tournaments as well as players in ODP process. You mention peak coaches - what about raptor coaches. What Mexican clubs are there- I cant find any info for those. Are they competitive with good coaching/player development
Looks like 10 girls teams - not bad (seems more than I recall but I may have been thinking about Spring when the H/S teams would have not been on there. Not many though - only doubling up in u13 and no u8 or u9 - at least not playing in IWSL. All of the non- H/S teams are in C or lower divisions. At that point I don't care how good their H/S teams are because that says enough for me. Boys have 6 teams in YSSL in mostly the lower divisions. So unless they are playing in NISL as well, that's not the best place for a boy IMO. At least it would not be an option for me. IMO, this club has connections and I would think the resources to be much better. But they are not. I'll send out some email for the Mexican clubs to a few dads I know out that way and PM you.
from my understanding older raptor teams play in MRL, Major Club Division, and State Premiership. How do these compare to NISL? I know MRL is a step up but what about the other two?
NISL seems like it is not as strong as it had been in the past - looks like they have limited age divisions now. Is that the case? Seems like teams have been going the State Premiership (IYSA) route