Joe - thankyou for your continued support in trying to help soccer in the city.

The Chicago Public League Soccer Coaches Association did not ask CPS Sports Administration to be involved with the All-Star matches. This is a very positive event that has been successful for the last three years. Both the Public and Catholic League have enjoyed their games together. We will again this year. Please, do not drag this through the muck. We do not want that attention.

In the past, we dealt with the Storm in using UIC and the Sears Center, but like EVERYONE else, they want to make a buck off of kids. The burden to sell tickets in order to play a game(s) became too much. We decided to go in a different direction. Enough said about that.

Arne, Calvin, and Juan do not need to send me a x-mas card. They have expressed their appreciation to our coaches in different ways: we have a voice, we can disagree, and we can work towards a better future. I can honestly say there is no conspiracy to keep city soccer down and out…at least not by the city. If we want to get to the truth of that matter, let’s talk about the disproportionate funding of public schools in Illinois. Any takers?

We are city people. Our roads are not always smooth…come to think of it, I do not know if we want them to be. We know what we are involved with and embrace it. There is pride. We do not need pity, sympathy, etc. The organized coaches referred to in the blog knew what they were getting into a long time ago. There are issues that we work on daily to improve. We are a fraction of some of the best human beings around. Look at the list! Amundsen, Kelly, Mather, Juarez, Von Steuben, Lane, Northside, Jones, Payton, Wells, Sullivan, Schurz, Lake View, Carver, Bogan, Washington, Lincoln Park, Kelvyn Park, Brooks, Morgan Park, Hyde Park, Bronzeville, Farragut, Perspectives, Foreman, Aspira, Chicago Academy, North Grand, Prosser, Noble Street, Roosevelt, Senn, Steinmetz, Crane, Gage Park, Hubbard, Kennedy, Hancock, Kenwood, King, Phoenix, Orr, Tilden, Bowen, Corliss, Clemente, Ag/Sci, Taft, Uplift, Best Practices, and Young. An association like no other! Celebrate it. Heck, some of you suburban readers, come back and visit where your mom, dad, grandma and grandpa became the awesome people that they are today. We develop character. You are always welcome here.

Let’s talk about soccer. Very little of what I read is actually about the game: the ball, the moves, the style, the skill of the player and the coach, the passion, futsal, the development, the lack of development, playing for love rather than rankings and a call from a college coach, one touch 11 v 11 robot soccer vs. creative world class 1-10 touch soccer …what is our part in winning a World Cup instead of securing a Division I scholarship. Let’s talk about what is real in our beautiful game. The rest of it is getting a bit stale.

Joe-

I've been a fan of high school sports here in Chicago since I graduated from Lane Tech high school in 1988. Back then,this was the state of soccer in the Public League (or at least at Lane).There was no girls high school soccer and the boys team consisted of a frosh-soph team and a varisty team. Lane has a stadium next to the school called Lane stadium, but ironically it is only called "Lane" stadium by name. Lane was not allowed to play any soccer games in the stadium or even practice there. Those decisions apparently were made by "someone" else at the CPS. So Lane' soccer teams were regulated to traveling 1.5 miles away to Horner Park to practice and play games.

Since 1988, 20 years have passed, and to the defense of the CPS, I have seen some improvement in boys Public League soccer. The levels have expanded from just two levels (frosh-soph and varisty) to now 4 levels (freshman, frosh-soph, JV, and varsity). There are also thriving girls programs in the Public League.

As far as athlethic fields, that has also improved. The city now have at least 3 brand new turf fields on the northside that is used for soccer that did nto exist 20 years ago. These fields are at Montrose, Jorndt Field (by Amundsen), and Lane stadium.

Those are the positives.

But, again to the defense of the CPS, the current CPS administration was not around when a majority of the schools in the CPS formed. Schools like Senn, Lakeview, Amundsen, Roosevelt, Englewood and Schurz were around before many of the people in the CPS were even born. SO the current CPS staff did not create the current situation. But they are given the unenviable task of fixing the situation.

AND there is a lot of fixing that needs to be going on. That is the topic of another conversation.

Neil Hernandez
Publisher
www.lanetechfan.com