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It's been an interesting couple of weeks. The Chicago Magic, Sockers F.C. and Fire Academy are jockeying for position with their new year-round academies. The IHSA is ticked at the Chicago Fire, while the Magic and Sockers are trying to figure out how they can compete for the best players against a professional franchise with top-notch facilities.
This is going to be interesting - not so much this year, but come next spring.
When I was in Orlando last December covering the Adidas Showcase at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex, I'll never forget a conversation I had with a well-known person saying there were a lot of people against the Fire. But it's safe to say not everyone is in love with the Magic and the Sockers either.
As I wrote back in August, it will be interesting to see what happens over the next 12 months. From these academies to high school soccer.
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This is hard to watch. First there is an agreement between the "travel teams" (soccer accademies?, and the IHSA that the two entities will not step on each other"s toes.High school in the fall (spring for girls), and "club" the rest of the year.
Now the clubs are going after the kids all year. The "Soccers" not only have more teams in the leauge than anyone else, but they run the leauge too. Is this a concern for anyone but me? Is the Fire going to establish a true accademy? Is the ISSA working in the best intrest of the kids, or in the best intrest of the ISSA?
Posted by: rcbusic | September 26, 2007 3:31 PM
I think the Fire Academy will be great for youth soccer, not only for the Chicago area but for soccer in the US.
It's about time MLS teams are going this route and truly trying to develop the youth soccer scene internally, especailly if the US truly wants to compete at the professional and international levels consistently.
This program also will provide avenues for kids that cannot afford to pay to play for the Sockers & Magic or any other high priced club, that are definitely good enough to make their respecitve age teams. The kids from lower income families will now have a chance to get quality training with quality facilities.
To boot, you have two of the best youth coaches running the show for this Fire Academy program. Louis Mateus and Tony Kees are top notch and will definitely provide these Academy kids the opprotunity to prosper from a soccer standpoint. These two have coached at all levels, so they know how to get it done.
I say bravo to the Fire, it's about time.
As for the high school programs that oppose this, you'll still have the top programs getting good players and the weaker programs remaining weak. This is the evolution of soccer development. It's been stagnant too long and this will help it get rolling in a positive way.
The number of kids selected to these Academy programs will not make that much of a dent into the high school soccer scene. As a matter of fact, maybe it will allow more opprotunties for other kids that would not necessarily make the varsity team at their respective high schools ~ especially if those top level players are now gone.
Plus, for kids looking to play college soccer most collegiate coaches prefer not to see them at the high school game level ~ they prefer to see them in a more competitive club atmosphere where they are challenged each and everytime they receive a ball.
Congrats to the Fire and I wish you all the success you deserve.
Posted by: Stash | October 3, 2007 2:03 PM