March 2009 Archives

Should players be allowed to go on Spring Break during the spring sports season? Let's hear your thoughts today, and I'll post mine tomorrow.

You knew it was coming, because it was only a matter of time.

But now that the final snow - yes, I said final (mark my word) - has come and is gone until November, sunnier days are ahead. Besides the snow, there is plenty to talk about this Monday morning. So let's start with the Pepsi Showdown (it's kind of hard not to when you have 30-plus area teams playing in it).

And so other tournament don't have to send out emails inquiring if it's speculation, Geneva, Wheaton South, Lincoln-Way East, Mundelein, Libertyville, Stagg, Joliet and Plainfield North will join the 2010 Pepsi Showdown along with others as it expands.

Leah Fortune (left), senior at Wheaton Academy and 2009 Sun-Times Preseason Player of the Year, will blog each Monday right here throughout the spring season. Here is her second entry:

"A snowflake is one of God's most fragile creations, but look what they can do when they stick together!"

Sunday night I was sitting at my kitchen table talking with three high school teammates, my high school assistant coach and my parents about the Pepsi Showdown game the night before. Excitement was overflowing from our facial expressions as we repeatedly told stories of the intense soccer match.

It's a tournament for players and about players.

Want to know what the players playing in the 2009 Pepsi Showdown are thinking? Check out www.pepsishowdown.us. The Pepsi Showdown is partnered by the Chicago Sun-Times and YourSeason.com.

So today was supposed to be CKicks notes day. Maybe I'll put them up this weekend, not sure. Maybe I'll hold them.

There's no picture today, just news. This news doesn't deserve a picture - another area star suspended for drinking. This time: Waubonsie Valley star Bri Rodriguez.

Kids make mistakes, we all did. But in today's day and age with Facebook, camera phones and so many other things, I just wonder when kids are going to get it? Is it worth it? Was drinking worth losing some of your season? Maybe Rodriguez doesn't care, because she's sitll recovering from an ACL injury.

I think she does care, I hope she does. I just wonder if that drink was really worth it?

It's supposed to be 60 degrees and sunny today, but who knows if it actually will be as I write this on Wednesday night. We all know the weather forecast is about as reliable as common sense coming out of the Bloomington Ivy Tower.

But then again, even if it rained or snowed, I'd still be smiling today. The Pepsi Showdown girls kicks off its second tournament this afternoon, an event that is finally off the ground and is three years away from being the main tournament in Illinois.

As I was emailing with a parent on Wednesday night, he said he wished his daughter's team was in the tournament. And why shouldn't he?

Call me bias all you want, but it represents everything high school soccer needs. Just ask the Hersey players (left) jumping in the air at the 2008 Pepsi Showdown.

One thing I've learned about the soccer community is that it tends to complain and has more problems than most other sports. The sport will probably always be a second-class citizen in this country. It's the only sport in the U.S. that has its best players go overseas to play, while clubs and high schools fight over players.

Do you see that in baseball, basketball or football? No, you don't. What you do see is consistent coverage of those sports and those players in the media year after year.

I never played soccer, actually hated the sport growing up. Baseball was my life. But since the day Lincoln-Way East coach Brian Papa opened my eyes to this sport, I've always looked for ways to bring exposure to the game, the players and the teams.

Soccer people want more opportunities - I hear it all the time. Well, I'm creating another opportunity, and it will be interesting to see who steps up to the plate to be a part of a great event on Sunday, April 19 at Concordia University. (Pictured left: Wheaton North after winning the 2008 Pepsi Showdown..)

I was asked to keep this quiet until it was officially announced, but I was actually kind of excited for Tony Kees (left) when I received the call a few weeks back that he would be the new head boys coach at Neuqua Valley.

Before Kees left Conant to join the Chicago Fire Academy last year, he was one of the most respected high school coaches around.

And now he's back.

Someone asked me on Monday why I wasn't jumping all over the IHSA for its latest ruling at the Class 4A boys basketball state finals?

I was like why? Now that the story has been on the front page of every newspaper, ESPN, Yahoo! and every broadcast station, I don't need to tell someone again that the crap needs to be flushed out of the Bloomington Ivy Tower.

I've been saying that for two years.

Over the past two weeks, I've watched IHSA executive director Marty Hickman throw officials underneath the corporate bus. First, he overrules a call on the court thanks to YouTube (hu?), and this past weekend he blames the IHSA's ruling on an official. I've watched IHSA assistant executive director Beth Sauser pull the same stunt at the state soccer finals, telling players they can't wear something they've been wearing the entire season and postseason.

Folks, I'm all for rules. Rules are rules - I get it. We might think some rules are dumb, and yes, some are, but there need to be rules. Here's my issue with the latest stunt the IHSA pulled - it affected kids that had no control over the situation.

When you say the name, it makes you realize how unique he is.

Say it with me - Sully Fox (left). Have you ever heard of someone with that name? I haven't.

Now remember that because come this fall, the 6-foot senior goalie at Lyons will be talked about a lot. Sporting a 4.2 grade-point average off the field, the Windy City Pride product is a rising star on it. He recorded 10 shutouts last fall, helping the Lions go unbeaten in 18 of their 22 matches.

Slowly but surely Fox is grabbing the attention of not just local coaches, but coaches throughout the Midwest.

Avi Stopper, former coach at the University of Chicago and founder of www.CaptainU.com - a Chicago-based company that makes recruiting software for high school athletes, their parents, and club and high school coaches - will be providing recruiting insight for coaches and players throughout the spring season.

A year ago, Gabby Whittinghill led Maine South to a state quarterfinal berth with 16 goals and 22 assists. The unsigned senior forward, who is leaning toward playing at Wisconsin-Parkside in the fall, opens up to Cornerkicks about last year's loss to No. 1 Waubonsie Valley and what she thinks about the Hawks No. 2 seed in this year's Pepsi Showdown.

Leah Fortune (left), senior at Wheaton Academy and 2009 Sun-Times Preseason Player of the Year, will blog each Monday right here throughout the spring season.

(Also note - there will be other blogs throughout the day starting today...)

It's a sad story that moved and inspired me the moment I first heard it, one that makes you turn to love ones and realize you can't put a price on life.

When life isn't fair and there is no explanation that will ease the pain, the one thing you can do is bust your butt and try to make the future as bright as possible for those affected the most.

I'll never forget when Lyons assistant coach Andy Newcomb, who I've known since his days building the Providence soccer programs, called this past summer and told me the story about the wife of former Lyons assistant soccer coach and current Rolling Meadows assistant coach Mike Drenth.

At the time last August, Diana, 31, was battling leukemia. The mother of a 1-year-old little girl had undergone several rounds of chemotherapy and then a stem cell transplant last March. Less than 90 days after her transplant, she relapsed. Because of severe risk of infection, Diana had been in isolation. Mike took a leave of absence from coaching and teaching to take care of Diana and their daughter, Lucy.

Diana lost her battle last November.

Not only did Mike lose his wife, a family lost a daughter and sister, but most of all - Lucy lost her mom. I wish I could go back, change the past and give my life instead so Lucy's mom was still here. I can't do that, but I can help to make sure Lucy's future is bright and that her mom is not forgotten.

Instead of agreeing that it's a sad story, please step it up and help Lucy. This could have been your mother, your daughter or your friend. Times are tough for everyone, but it's never too tough to help - especially for a little girl.

When I first started in the newspaper business as a high school senior, one of my first sports editors told me something time and time again when I would say someone wants to know when a story is running.

"Tell them to pick up the paper, it will be in soon," said Alan Macey (left), a sports editor at the old Star Newspapers that merged with the Daily Southtown last year to create the SouthtownStar.

Macey's main reason for saying that wasn't to drive up circulation numbers, even though he believed everyone should support and read the paper. He had learned over the years that things change at a moments notice in the newspaper business. Someone might come in and buy a full-page ad at the last second, which would force sports to lose a page. Advertising might be low throughout the paper, which would cause for pages to be cut everywhere.

And then there is this thing called timely news, which would bump features and previews to another day. Timely news or a Joe Trost soccer feature? I'm going with the latter every time, but that's not how it works.

I know you're all dying to know who is going to be the Sun-Times No. 1 when the Top 10 is announced on Thursday.

Cancel the pasta parties to view the rankings, because I'm going to ruin the surprise right now - Waubonsie Valley. I know, that's going to kill our circulation numbers tomorrow.

The only way the Warriors don't win their third consecutive state title is if lightning strikes the team at some point this spring. If you think I'm nuts, maybe you've been struck by lightning. Every other Illinois team is playing for second place in the IHSA state tournament. Go ahead, post that on the bulletin boards, blow it up in big font and put my smiling face next to it. I'll even type it one more time - everyone else is playing for second place.

I don't care if the Warriors lose 10 times during the regular season - they have more talent than any team around - period. I've said this before and I'll say it again - if Waubonsie Valley goes undefeated during the regular season and loses in the IHSA tournament, guess who will be the No. 1 team at the end of the season - Waubonsie Valley.

Now with that said, when lightning did strike during the 2005 state title game, Neuqua Valley scored six goals in the second half to stun two-time defending state champ New Trier 6-3. Well, guess who the No. 2 team is in Thursday's poll? At this rate, I might as well tell you the rest of the Top 10. That's what you get for reading this blog.

I reward my loyal readers with a little inside info. (Pictured left is the Waubonsie Valley coaching staff led by head coach Julie Bergstrom second from the left.)

The first games of the 2009 girls soccer season kicked off Monday night, so I guess it's time to start seeding the IHSA state tournament. Oh wait, they do that in April for the May tournament. Don't they seed the state football playoffs one week out? They couldn't, because they would never treat sports different (wink, wink).

Someone, anyone, please send a note to the Bloomington Ivy Tower and ask them to stop using 20th century seeding practices in the 21st century. There are ways to do it, and I speak with experience in hand.

As for the weather, I can't remember the first day of the season being as nice as it was Monday but I also know it could snow next week. With that in mind, I want you to talk about your worst "weather game," because I know I've stood in my share and said, "What the heck am I doing out here?"

I also thought today should be about some of the players you will see this season. One photo, one group to the left - what is this all about? The larger photo is in the continued version of this blog. I'll tell you who they are on Thursday.

The minute you meet him you can tell he's a normal person, remembering where it all started and not what he has become.

In an era when some former teachers and coaches lose touch with reality when they climb the overly too political world of education, I truly believe Tim Kilrea is still the same person he was the day he walked in to teach his first high school history class.

The Good Doctor, as I and many others refer to him as, has shown that just like President Obama, you don't have to stick your nose up someone's backside to make it in this world. His people skills are second-to-none, and I've always told people that he and former Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan are a lot alike when dealing with media issues.

I can already see puzzled looks on your faces: "So Trost, what does this have to do with soccer?" As Mr. Kilrea once said to a young Joe Trost in his 8 a.m. freshman history class at Lincoln-Way: "Joe, history tells the story."

And for the recently announced new superintendent at Lyons, it all began on the soccer sidelines years ago. (Pictured from left: Former Providence coach John Kovatch, Lincoln-Way East coach Brian Papa, former Lincoln-Way coach Tim Kilrea, Joe Trost and H-F coach Todd Elkei at the Michele Bingham Golf Outting.)

You've heard it before - a picture says a 1,000 words. There's no question this one does.

The pain, the heartbreak, the confusion, the unknown. (Even the look on the ref's knee gives a painful look.)

Prior to suffering an ACL injury last season, West Virginia-bound Bri Rodriguez was one of the top midfielders in the country. The senior is trying to become the first player from the area to be named to the Sun-TImes All-Area Girls Soccer Team all four years.

This isn't the Naperville Sun All-Area Team we're talking about. It's an accomplishment no one has secured before.

But as we've seen so many times with girls players in the past, if you push this injury too fast - it's going to slow the recovery process down. So is Rodriguez ready for the 2009 season?

You read and tell me.

Avi Stopper, former coach at the University of Chicago and founder of www.CaptainU.com - a Chicago-based company that makes recruiting software for high school athletes, their parents, and club and high school coaches - will be providing recruiting insight for coaches and players each Sunday.

NOTE: One of the area's top players will be blogging weekly. She begins later this week. Stay tuned.

As of this Monday, I'll pretty much be stuck in Chicago for awhile - or at least through the Pepsi Showdown. I love to travel, as many know. I've been to Vegas, Playa, Austin, Miami, New Orleans and a few other warm spots since December.

The plan is to head out to Cubs Spring Training for the weekend with some friends and enjoy the final weekend before the first games kickoff Monday. This season, Fridays will be known as "CKicks." If you have something interesting, send it to me. If you don't have my email address, I'm sure you can find it if it's that newsworthy.

I'm a big fan of news and notes, always have been. You know the "get to the point Trost and stop wasting my time" notes. While many people thanked me for flushing the crap out of the Bloomington Ivy Tower this week, that blog was painful for me. It was too long. But luckily, I was able to find a picture of Mickey, Donald and Goofy in the IHSA office to make the blog easier on the eyes.

All right, all right, enough joking around...here's the first installment of CKicks. (Pictured left: Erin Pekovitch)

Joliet's Krissy Dorre is living the so-called rough life these days.

"I'm looking at Notre Dame, Northwestern, Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin," said Dorre, who plays club for Windy City Pride and is one of the top 2010 girls soccer prospects in Illinois. "I guess it's good to have options, but I don't like going through this."

College coaches have been calling me inquiring about the junior, while opposing club coaches have praised her, too. "I like her a lot as a player," Eclipse Select's Rory Dames said. Windy City Pride coach Ko Thanadabouth has told college coaches that Dorre is one of the best he has ever trained.

And guess what? She's playing high school once again this spring.

If the IHSA is really run by member schools throughout Illinois, then it's time the whole association looks in the mirror and decides who is really running the show.

Is it a pencil geek in the Bloomington Ivy Tower watching YouTube videos as he dances in the "Attitude" costume taking orders from Illini basketball fans? Or is it really run by member administrators, many of whom use public tax dollars to help fund a once respected organization?

Seriously, I need to know because after what I witnessed, digested and slept on Monday and Tuesday, it's time for the schools in Illinois to stand up and do what's right.

President Obama said it's time for change. I say it's time to flush the toilet and clean the crap out of the Bloomington Ivy Tower.

This past Monday, IHSA executive director Marty Hickman (top left) and the rest of his pencil-pushing followers once again reminded everyone in the state how he rules differently depending on which sport is high profile and which one isn't.

It's another version of "Pay to Play" in Illinois.

When it comes to soccer in the south suburbs, it's like watching a dead man walking.

It's definitely fallen harder than the "I've fallen... and I can't get up" catchphrase of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The popular line was spoken in a television commercial for a medical alarm and protection company called LifeCall, starting in 1989 to 1990...when they went out of business.

Ironically, the storyline of the south suburban soccer scene follows suit. The area I grew up in and used to defend has seen its day come and go. I'm worrying it's getting worse every year. What's sad is its heyday didn't even last as long as a Red Bull energy drink or as long as the color did on this now black-and-white photo of the 1999 Lincoln-Way girls soccer team.

Today, the individual and team talent level south of the Stevenson pales in comparison with the great Lincoln-Way and Sandburg teams of the past. But while those were the great state-contending programs, the south suburbs always had good, solid teams.

Before we continue, let's just get this out of the way - here's the moment of silence for the programs at Rich East, Rich South, Rich Central, Thornton and Thornwood. We had some good times, didn't we? RIP.

It's just not the same in the south suburbs and probably never will be again.

Hey, at least it was rain and not snow. Only in Chicago can we see Noah's Ark one day, 60 degrees on Tuesday and 30 on Wednesday.

And next week, thanks to the lazy folks at the Ivy Tower in Bloomington, who are lacking common sense by having the first official soccer game next week instead of pushing the season to April 1 and going a week later in June, there will probably be a snow storm Monday morning.

I know the IHSA doesn't want more than two sports having state finals on the same weekend, but this is why we have 101 games forced into six days. As a high-ranking official said to me last week, only a matter of time before the IHSA sees another lawsuit in today's lawsuit happy society. We'll get to that later in the week, but first let's have some fun to start the week.

You say a coach's name, I'll give you a one-word response or phrase. As your full-service blogger, I have some examples for you. No need to thank me. (Pictured left: Rory Dames.)

Avi Stopper (left), former coach at the University of Chicago and founder of www.CaptainU.com - a Chicago-based company that makes recruiting software for high school athletes, their parents, and club and high school coaches - will be providing recruiting insight for coaches and players each Sunday throughout the 2009 spring season.

I promised this season was going to be an interesting read, and the reaction the first week was just a preview of more to come.
You'll always get the facts here, as one of my favorite phrases is, "Don't let the truth get in the way of the facts." Someone can spin the story to try to make you think it's the truth, but the facts are the facts.

The topper to the week came Saturday, and it was actually sort of funny. I received an email from a club coach thinking I was calling out their player in a blog. One, I didn't even know who that player was at first. Secondly, it just shows some people read and react instead of thinking of the blog's meaning.

This past week reminded me of when I went to bat for a girls soccer team 10 years ago.

If Alonso Flores walked down Main St. in Naperville, there wouldn't be a sole that would recognize the 2008 Sun-Times Boys Soccer Player of the Year.

That's fine, Flores doesn't need the attention. Anyone who didn't see the Bloom forward play last season or the previous three, it's their loss.

Flores recorded 49 goals last fall and is now headed to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. He recently signed his National Letter of Intent with Bloom head coach Kelly Gutierrez (left) and athletic director Joe Reda (right).

"In a coach's career, you're lucky to get a player who is talented on the field, in the classroom and is such a pleasure to coach," Gutierrez said. "Alonso is that kid. I hope that in my career, I can get at least one more kid like him."

Flores' signing was not only big for the Bloom community, but the Hispanic community as a whole.

When I first heard this, I wasn't sure whether to accept it as a part of today's generation or shake my head in disbelief.

But here's the real issue - some parents are bright, some are dumb and some are just naïve. You've heard that before, and I'm sure you'll hear that again from me.

But before I continue, let me say there are days when I'm bright, dumb and yes, even naïve.

We all are. It's human nature.

But when I hear that a parent took their child out of a solid high school program, because they didn't believe the coach could help her child reach the next level, I just don't get it.

Call me dumb, call me naïve - I don't care. The parent is missing the big picture. (And please note, the picture to the left is just a good file photo.)

Since the day when my first article ran in March 1995 as a senior at Lincoln-Way High School, I've always been a big believer in corporate partnerships. Despite being a reporter, I've had an interest in building events that would serve the paper, readers and community.

A good media outlet attracts readers - the same consumers corporations are targeting. You bring the three together, and it's amazing what happens. From record-setting soccer banquets, all-star games, giveaways and running the largest high school tournaments around, I've followed that basic common sense formula to help put the spotlight on soccer and thousands of kids ever since.

As long as you don't cross the ethical line, there's nothing wrong with it.

Advertising is a way of life today, as is the death of newspapers. But for years, some schools have put up a wall against corporate partnerships. I've never understood that, especially in today's day and age.

But what the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is doing now, it sort of blows me away that no one has said anything.

If you know me, you know I'm bluntly honest to a fault. I hate spin jobs, and I dislike salesmen more than the beets my parents tried to make me eat when I was younger (also known as a form of child abuse I believe).

So let's be blunt: How many all-African American girls soccer teams will compete in the Chicagoland area this spring?

A handful - maybe - and that's pushing it.

Isn't that amazing? I think so. To this day, Chicago is one of the most segregated cities in America. And sadly when it comes to soccer in this area, no one is willing to come from the suburbs to help start a solid soccer program in the city.

The Illinois Youth Soccer Association (IYSA) has its inner-city youth program, which has contributed more than $1 million since 1992 to soccer programs for at-risk children living in some of the most economically disadvantaged communities in Chicago.

But you want to know why soccer hasn't blossomed in the city yet?

Money - it's all about dollars and cents. You want a black and white answer, there you go.

At the start of the girls season, all the focus will be on Waubonsie Valley -- the program looking to capture its third consecutive state title and join elite company. If the Warriors accomplish that feat, they will join only St. Charles, which won five consecutive state crowns from 1996-2000, as Illinois' only three-time winners.

While everyone around the area knows the story of Waubonsie Valley, not many know of Huntley. But come June, if all the pieces fall in place, the Red Raiders will be known to all.

Last spring, I told you York was the team to watch and it was. Last fall, I told you Larkin was the team to watch and it was.

Doubt me all you want, but Huntley is this spring's team to keep an eye on. Pictured left is Huntley's Alyse Williams.

Ahhhhh, I'm sorry - didn't mean to yawn. I'm just trying to wake up from the annual basketball season.

You know, the never-ending campaign that has preseason tournaments (brick), Thanksgiving tournaments (double dribble), Holiday tournaments (foul when you are losing by 20 with 13 seconds to play), horrible Tuesday night nonconference games and triple overtime sophomore games. Transfers, CPS shootings (during, before and after games) and 50-minute post-game speeches.

Folks, I love basketball. I still play, and I'm actually waiting for Obama to call for a little 1-on-1 - maybe next time he's in town. But seriously, seriously - people who think a scoreless soccer game is boring needs to see what I saw this basketball season.

If you did, you'd know why they call it March Madness.

So hey, welcome to the 2009 season. The weather is going to get warmer, the sun is going to stay out longer. But you know what's best?

Cornerkicks is back...and watch out - I have my list of whose been good and bad.