January 2008 Archives

Have you heard Rihanna's new song "Please don't stop the music?" I admit I'm a fan of the song, which has shot up the charts and is currently the most-played song in Chicago.

Earlier this week, the music could have stopped for yours truly - but it didn't for some reason. Over the years, I've written a number of tragic stories of athletes losing their lives in auto accidents or someone coming close to losing their lives. To this day, I remember the story of Denise Peck, a former all-state star at Lincoln-Way, who suffered serious injuries and lost a couple of friends in an auto accident back in 2000.

But now the next time someone asks me if I know what it's like to be hit by a truck, I can finally say - yes, I do. I will be able to describe a truck plowing right into my driver side, spinning the car around through an intersection and drilling a light pole. Nothing like people running to the car thinking you are dead. The look on some of their faces as I climbed out of my car, looked around and then said a couple choice words was priceless (as is life in general).

What was even more priceless was seeing the driver of the truck tell police he doesn't have a driver's license. After hearing that, I wanted to know if the truck had IHSA or CPS license plates, too?

But anyways, life goes on and it leads me to this question:

The Chicago Magic has long been considered the top boys club in the country by Soccer America. Wondering where some of the Magic's top boys players in the 2009 class are looking?

Here's the update you've been waiting for:

It's Monday, and you have to love Mondays. A new week, a fresh start to create opportunities.

As excited and hopeful I am about the prospect that the embarrassing facilities situation with the Chicago Public Schools will finally be addressed after receiving a letter from Dr. Joyce Kenner, President of CPS' Principal's Athletic Association Executive Board, (http://blogs.suntimes.com/cornerkicks/2008/01/dr_joyce_kenners_help_is_neede.html#comments) I also wonder if the CPS coaches will finally step up to the plate and demand better facilities for their student-athletes?

It's so easy to talk the talk, sit and collect a check. It's another thing to step up and make a difference for the sport and its athletes of today and tomorrow.

Nevertheless, I wanted to share this video clip. I remember watching it live and to this day I still watch it once a week. If you listen to the words and the meaning, it's hard not to be motivated on a Monday.

Neil Hernandez, publisher of lanetechfan.com, brought up a good point in response to the problems with the CPS Sports Administration's lack of attention to boys and girls soccer in Chicago.

"The current CPS staff did not create the current situation," said Hernandez in a comment posted last week. "But they are given the unenviable task of fixing the situation."

But as I've said time and time again, there hasn't been any fixing in the last seven years that I've seen. If it wasn't for the Chicago Park District adding a turf field at Montrose Park and ComEd donating the lights that would be one less field CPS would have.

You may recall something I brought up last September in regards to the new field turf at Lane Stadium. Here was an opportunity for CPS to do something good, and guess what - they blew it again. Not only is the field only 55 yards wide for soccer, when it could've easily been 70 yards wide, they didn't even mark the field correctly for soccer. On the east side of the field, they forgot to add a sideline for soccer.

Don't believe me? Go look for yourself. This is the second in series of reports looking at CPS soccer.

If you don't know who Dr. Joyce Kenner is, then you don't know who one of the most powerful administrators from the Chicago Public Schools is. Whitney Young High School is considered one of the brightest stars in the CPS system, and a big reason is due to Kenner's leadership.

On Thursday night, Kenner chuckled after she was asked at halftime of Young's boys basketball game if she would like to start the same starting five in the second half. It was a joke, but Kenner does have a lot of power and respect.

And the time has come for Kenner to look into why CPS' system continues to let soccer down. People within the system are afraid to talk at times, out of fear for their jobs. Last fall, a coach spoke honestly about the problems within CPS, only to be told to say he didn't say that in order to keep his job.

Welcome to CPS - where they hold students accountable, but not the CPS Sports Administration office under the direction of Calvin Davis and soccer adminstrator Juan Espinoza.

As I've always said, don't let the truth get in the way of the facts...meaning someone can say something to get you to believe them, but the facts tell the real story.

So let's look at soccer in CPS. This will be a first in a series of reports.

Good morning Arne Duncan, Calvin Davis and Juan Espinoza.

I hope you had a great holiday season and that your New Year is off to an outstanding start. But I see nothing has changed when it comes to your support of CPS soccer and its athletes.

I received a couple calls last week, two emails yesterday and then another email this morning. It's amazing how it's not even soccer season and the CPS system - behind your leadership - continues to ignore soccer. As one private school athletic director said to me two years ago, if it wasn't for a handful of organized CPS coaches - who knows what CPS soccer would look like. I hope you guys sent holiday gifts and thank you cards to Ian McCarthy (Young) and Andrew Ricks (Lane Tech) among others.

Here's a brief piece of an email I received from a disgusted CPS coach:

I thought life was good.

Airfare from Midway to Fort Lauderdale on Southwest - $60 each way.

Hotel on South Beach - $110 a night via Priceline.

Sun - ZERO.

Welcome to South Beach this past weekend. Lovely, let me tell you. While it was overcast the entire weekend, it was in the mid 70s - so I know...cry me a river. But I did catch a little high school soccer (Florida just started its state playoffs) and saw Dwayne Wade take on LeBron James last night.

Nevertheless, I've received dozens of emails over the past week regarding the recent blogs. It's interesting to see what major Division I college coaches think. And now, lucky you, you'll get to see what I think.

Are major recruiting events a good thing or are there too many? This is the fourth in a series of comments this week from major Division I coaches from around the country who attended the Disney Soccer Showcase along with yours truly. Next week, I'll tell you where I stand.

North Carolina women's soccer coach Anson Dorrance spoke Tuesday, followed by Tennessee women's soccer coach Ange Kelly on Wednesday and Notre Dame women's soccer coach Randy Waldrum on Thursday.

Today, as promised, you'll hear from UCLA women's soccer coach Jillian Ellis:

The ongoing academy issue was a major topic of discussion at this month's winter meetings of the National Federation of State High School Assns., said assistant director Mark Koski.

"It's definitely a concern to us because it means fewer participants at the high school level," Koski said. "The concern is how many other sports are going to come along."

John Hackworth, director of the development program, said U.S. Soccer encourages participants also to play for their high school teams. He said the elite programs decided on their own to require their players to pick between the club and high school teams.

"We are not telling them they have to make that choice," Hackworth said.

That puts a new spin on things - especially with the Chicago Fire and high school coaches. The Chicago Magic is the lone program that will not require its academy players to skip the high school season.

While the announcement of the Juarez soccer programs being suspended from IHSA competition for a year was interesting news this week http://www.ihsa.org/announce/2007-08/2008-01-14.htm, there are other positive items to report regarding soccer in the city.

Here is an email I received regarding an event coming up Thursday, Feb. 7 from 4:30-7 p.m. at Chitown Futbol (2350 S. Throop, Chicago):

"This is a fundraising tournament about bringing 8th grade girls together in a single meeting place and assign them randomly to teams that are being coached by current head coaches of Chicago area high school teams. The benches will be coached by St. Ignatius, Northside Prep, Lincoln Park, Chicago Lab, Young, Latin, DeLaSalle and Von Steuben. There will be other coaches in attendance, but they will be located in the stands and observing as spectators.

*Note: The IHSA does not recognize indoor soccer as a sport, so there is no rules violation.

Are major recruiting events a good thing or are there too many? This is the third in a series of comments this week from major Division I coaches from around the country who attended the Disney Soccer Showcase along with yours truly. At the end of the week, I'll tell you where I stand.

North Carolina women's soccer coach Anson Dorrance spoke Tuesday, followed by Tennessee women's soccer coach Ange Kelly yesterday.

Today, you'll hear from Notre Dame women's soccer coach Randy Waldrum:

Remember Ryan Miller (Barrington, Notre Dame) and Cesar Zambrano (Brother Rice, UIC)?

And there's no question many know of Chicago Magic product Josh Lambo.

All three are expected to go high in Friday's MLS Superdraft. There is talk that two of the three will be drafted by the Chicago Fire, which has one local product on the squad - Brian Plotkin (Naperville North, Indiana).

Lambo will become the Magic's 12th professional player.

Also keep an eye on Rauwshan McKenzie (Fremd, Michigan State). He and Miller played club for the Sockers.

Are major recruiting events a good thing or are there too many? This is the second in a series of comments this week from major Division I coaches from around the country who attended the Disney Soccer Showcase along with yours truly. At the end of the week, I'll tell you where I stand.

North Carolina women's soccer coach Anson Dorrance spoke yesterday.

Today, you'll hear from Tennessee women's soccer coach Ange Kelly:

So you want proof of one reason why high school players and parents love club soccer more than high school soccer?

Checkout the list of college coaches to attend the Disney Soccer Showcase three weeks ago. I can tell you that in my 12-plus years of covering high school soccer, I haven't seen anywhere close to this many college coaches at all the high school games combined - http://adisneyworldsports.disney.go.com/media/dwws_v0220/en_US/pdf/08SoccerShowcaseCoachesList.pdf.

Honestly, it was hard not to trip over a college recruiter or go blind from the hundreds of college colors and logos.

So are major recruiting events like this a good thing or are there too many? This is the first in a series of comments this week from major Division I coaches from around the country who attended the Disney Soccer Showcase along with yours truly. At the end of the week, I'll tell you where I stand.

Until then, let the debate begin with thoughts from North Carolina women's soccer coach Anson Dorrance:

Make sure to check out the local commitments and list of top girls players in the 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 classes.

http://highschoolsports.suntimes.com/738563,011208trostfeature.article

This will be a big week, and some very, very interesting blogs before I leave for Miami next weekend. It's safe to say they will open some eyes. From a coach being told to quietly leave, girls seeds for the Pepsi Showdown (www.pepsishowdown.us) will be announced and a number of college coaches will follow up with their thoughts regarding exposure and recruiting.

Get ready....see you Tuesday.

Every year, the list of girls soccer players from the Chicagoland area moving on to play college soccer grows even longer.

Here is a list of players from the Class of 2008 that will officially sign next month:

***ALSO NOTE: Sunday's recruiting page will only run in the EARLY Sunday edition (three-star) on news stands this Saturday. It will be online ONLY on Sunday.

http://highschoolsports.suntimes.com/index.html

With the start of the spring season right around the corner (yes, we're thinking positive here), make sure to check out Sunday's paper for the annual recruiting buzz surrounding the area's top players.

There will be a list of 2008 and 2009 oral commitments of area players, along with other interesting recruiting lists.

Before the lists appear Sunday, who do you think the top three girls players are in each class?

Nicole Lipp is arguably the top girls soccer player in the junior class. But the Lake Forest and Eclipse Select midfielder also is one of the smartest players in the 2009 class.

On Tuesday night, Lipp said she is looking at the following schools to continue her education and soccer career at – Stanford, Yale, Princeton, Cal, Duke, Northwestern or Harvard.

Stay tuned.

It seemed no matter where Waubonsie Valley played last spring, everyone knew who Bri Rodriguez was and where she was on the field.

I wonder if they are going to follow the playmaker out to West Virginia, because that's where the midfielder will play beginning in the fall of 2009. The junior gave an oral commitment on Monday night, selecting the East Coast program over Florida State.

"I like the campus, and have a good relationship with the coach," said Rodriguez, who is undecided about what she will major in but is leaning toward journalism. (I told her to go the broadcast route and make some money.)

Rodriguez will join her good friend Meghan Lewis (Neuqua Valley), who will play there beginning this fall.

Now the real question...

One of the top players in the 2009 class, Stevenson's Ali Hall, has given an oral commitment to Tennessee.

Hall, who plays club for Eclipse Select, will be the second player from the club to play for the Lady Vols in recent seasons. Alissa VonderHaar (Naperville Central) transferred from DePaul and is currently a junior.

Tennessee coach Angela Kelly, who was in attendance for the Disney Soccer Showcase last week, led the Lady Vols to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament this past season.

You may recall reading a blog on Dec. 19 titled, "Gift No. 6: Time for Chicago Fire to hire Mike Matkovich." If you didn't, take a second and read it. I'll even give you the link to make it easy - http://blogs.suntimes.com/cornerkicks/2007/12/.

While sitting with some college coaches at the Disney Soccer Showcase two weeks ago, I received a text from Matkovich on Dec. 30 stating that he interviewed with the Fire.

Amen.

The former Naperville North all-state star, Lewis University forward (that obtained two bachelor degrees - business and physical education), former Bolingbrook High School coach, former Lewis University coach, former Chicago Power coach, former Chicago Fire Premier coach, U.S. Men's National staff coach, Chicago Magic director and current Toronto FC (MLS) assistant coach has perfect local ties for this franchise. The Magic is the No. 1 club in the country that has produced a number of current MLS players - Brad Guzan, Ned Grabavoy, Quavas Kirk, Jed Zayner and Ricardo Clark.

As I said before - this organization needs to put the ego aside and realize the positive impact a hire like this would send through the Chicagoland soccer community. What does it say when a hometown organization can't see the talent right down the street, but an MLS organization in a different country can?

There is more than just Eclipse Select in Illinois when it comes to girls clubs. While it may be the No. 1 club in the nation, it isn't the only one producing future college players.

For the second consecutive year, KUFC will have a number of players moving on to play at the next level. KUFC director Dwayne Cruz talked about his future college players playing in the Disney Soccer Showcase at the Wide World of Sports Complex last weekend.

Vanessa DiBernardo was one of the most exciting girls players to watch last spring. As a mere freshman, it seemed as though the midfielder was making a difference in every game for Waubonsie Valley...en route to the Class AA state crown.

As I sat at the Disney Soccer Showcase last week, I was texting back and forth with Waubonsie Valley coach Julie Bergstrom. I asked which of her players were down at the showcase, and mentioned at one moment that I was watching her goalie Clarie Hanold play with Eclipse Select.

Much to my surprise (wait, nothing surprises these days), Bergstrom informed me that Dibernardo was playing with a St. Louis-based club at the Disney Soccer Showcase.

St. Louis-based? Granted, she was only playing as a guest player in the tournament, but what about playing with the other Chicago clubs at the showcase?

For the past two years, Tim Zimmer has been considered one of the top defenders in the Chicagoland area. He was named to the NSCAA All-Midwest team after leading Naperville Central to the Class AA sectional finals this past fall.

His hard work, physical strength and intelligence are just three reasons why UCLA, Stanford and Northwestern want to land this rugged backline competitor.

Stay tuned.

As I sat down at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex last Sunday, I started to look at the rosters in the college recruiting book handed out to every college coach in attendance. If you’ve never seen this book, it’s basically the Yellow Pages for every team and player in attendance for the ever-growing, first-class event.

Nevertheless, I came across the under-16 Eclipse Select roster and almost passed out when I saw the name Katie Uyenishi. The Uyenishi last name is somewhat of a household name when it comes to girls soccer in the Chicagoland area. I can speak for Sarah and Molly, both of whom starred for Lake Zurich High School and Eclipse Select. Sarah went on to play at Marquette, while Molly is still pounding people at Colorado College.

I’ll never forget an April weekday a few years back when Lake Zurich and St. Viator played a rescheduled girls game from the St. Viator Tournament. Sarah was a senior, Molly was a freshman and Rory Dames was still barking from the St. Viator sidelines. There was a little girl with a great personality running circles around people with a soccer ball.

Dames turned to me and said, “She is going to be the best one of the bunch.”

Who was that little girl – Katie Uyenishi.

Lincoln-Way Central and Chicago Magic standout Phil Galounis is one of the most recruited players in the 2009 class. The midfielder, who is currently looking at Notre Dame, Ohio State and UIC, will play for the under-18 Magic Academy beginning this spring.

But there are some people who don't know that Galounis lost his best friend at the age of 9 in an auto accident. He has since become a spokesman for "Juggling for Safety & Health," which raises awareness of seat belt use through a campaign with the National Safety Council and the FireWorks for Kids Foundation.

While Galounis isn't the only area player successful off the field, there are times when we (me included) fail to realize that.

So Phil - take a bow.

The National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) has announced its NSCAA/adidas Regional Coaches of the Year, and Conant's Tony Kees and Waubonsie Valley's Julie Bergstrom were honored.

These two coaches are now eligible for NSCAA/adidas National Coach of the Year honors. Those recipients will be announced at the NSCAA's Awards Banquet to be held Jan. 18 in conjunction with the NSCAA Convention in Baltimore.

US Club Soccer announced today the hiring of former St. Viator girls soccer coach Rory Dames as id2 Girls Director. Dames will manage the club scouts, player selections and national camp for the 2008 id2 girls’ program.

Since 1997, Dames has served as the Director of Coaching and Player Development for the Eclipse Select Soccer Club. In 2007, Soccer America named Eclipse Select SC the best girls soccer club in the nation. Eclipse Select SC teams have won four US Club Soccer National Cup Regional titles.

Dames appeared in the 1991 NCAA Final Four during his career at St. Louis University. Upon completely his collegiate eligibility, Dames played a season with the Rockford Raptors in the USISL.

Love him or not, Dames continues to prove his critics wrong.