In reply to: Bye bye DA and welcome the MLS Boys' academy posted by irishlawyer
starting a year-round program. We've never had any of our kids in something like that, but I know indirectly through friends that it can be a significant time commitment, including the travel. It's not for every child.
that many ECNL clubs are offering a 10 month AND a 6 month program.
Weird how year round used to be attacked by ECNL clubs who used high school as a selling point. now, I am hearing that the "A" team in clubs with both will likely be the 10 month program.
How things change.
My kid has never played above the state level and has been basically year round since he was 13.
Now he just has the 2 month break for HS soccer, but that's it.
... soccer. But they played all year except for a 2-3 month break for HS. Fall season, winter/spring state cups, summer tournaments and Far West Regionals. When the got to college they played much less of the year.
ECNL sold to draw kids away from DA. The best kids play year round. Even the ECNL ones.
ECNL will let FCU and Sockers in but only after bleeding off their best players, so maybe in a year or two.
My daughter is a "younger" at her age, so I kind of like the idea of year round play so she doesn't have to sit out a season while her teammates are freshmen in high school.
You seem to know the Chicagoland teams - are you NW in the sense of CL Force or FC Alliance northwest or like Rockford Northwest?
And, I've heard good things about Northbrook Eclipse.
We aren't Rockford or Crystal Lake. We're in Arlington Heights, smack dab in Brian McBride country.
She's really young (finishing Kindergarten) so we're not in any rush (she's also very old for her grade). We're waiting until she's closer to the 8 time frame to see how she does and what we want to do.
When the coaches approached us, we started digging in and researching (thankfully we have lots of family friends who have navigated some of these waters already). I still have a lot to learn, but have heard and read some horror stories about Eclipse and their gobbling up of other clubs like Spartan, etc.
You have a lot of great choices between Green White, Aces, Elite, Sockers - a nice place to live (I grew up there).
The attached link takes you to the "Changing Landscape" of Chicago soccer thread on Bigsoccer's forums. This is required reading for any parent in Chicagoland. I've read from the beginning, but I would start at least around page 100. Great scoop on the local scene, coaches and teams.
Thank you
to keep up with the current news that seems to be changing by the day.
Interestingly, the concept of EVERYONE playing in the MRL next year because of travel restrictions would really be great. There's no reason you couldn't just create a top Illinois pyramid. There is really no need to travel beyond Wisconsin, Missouri, and Michigan if you have top Illinois teams to play.