News and Announcements

Team Chicago Winter Newsletter!

Posted by Team Chicago Academy at Nov 27, 2019 10:07AM PST
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The fall season has come to an end, temperatures have dropped and we have moved inside for the winter! The winter portion of the season brings a different focus as we emphasize technical training and also make sure practices are enjoyable and upbeat for all of the players. This is a period without competitive games where it is important that we encourage the players to work on their individual skills and risk-taking a well as their game understanding and competitiveness. We are holding Winter Indoor Play-Dates again this winter which allows the players both a different type of session to look forward to as we group teams and players together, but also allows them to play with and against different players within the club.

The fall season brought success on the field, with all five of our teams that participated in the Illinois Youth Soccer State Cup advancing to the Quarterfinals: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 Elite. Team Chicago is the only club in Illinois to have all of our teams in the State Cup Quarterfinals! The 2002, 2004 and 2005 teams advanced to the semi-finals and our 2002 Elite team advanced to the final where they unfortunately fell short in a hotly contested game.

In the Midwest Conference both the 2005 Elite and 2003 Elite teams won promotion (to Premier I and Premier II, respectively) and the 2007 Elite boys finished second in their Midwest Conference qualification group and will be playing in Premier II in the spring. The 2002 Elite girls won the Premier I division going undefeated with a 9-0 record scoring 27 goals and only taking 5. They secured a spot at the Region II Regional Championship in June in Indianapolis and will begin their National League season in early December for the 2nd consecutive year. The National League brings together the top teams from around the country to compete with an opportunity to qualify directly to the US Youth Soccer National Championships. Best of luck to them!

The 2005 Select girls won their IWSL division going undefeated and playing some quality soccer with many other teams having success on the field while playing quality soccer and improving throughout the course of the season with all of our teams enjoying league and tournament success. Regardless of the wins and losses we want all of our teams to play with skill and work to improve from game to game and week to week.

Our high school girls’ teams will be participating in different college showcases during the winter months before the players leave us for the spring to play for their high school teams. The winter period for these teams is very important in the recruiting process as we make sure they are seen by college coaches to help maximize their ability to find the best collegiate fit. We will also be hosting our MLK Day Girls College Showcase in January which attracts college coaches from across the region.

We have increased our use of technology across the club this season. For the younger players we have added MyPersonalFootballCoach in addition to the weekly technical training sessions they have participated in throughout the fall. For our older teams across the club we have begun using CollegeFitFinder to guide them through the college recruiting process. We are also using Zoom Reports to generate evaluations for every player in the club. After receiving your child’s evaluation feel free to schedule a meeting with your coach to discuss it should you have any questions about the evaluation or any other part of the program.

We are holding supplemental tryouts during December and January for girls and boys born between 2006-2012. Interested players should contact the Team Chicago office at office@teamchicagosoccer.org for more information, or visit https://www.teamchicagosoccer.org/Default.aspx?tabid=862922.

Finally, we have three social events coming up this winter.

This Friday is our 4th Annual Golf Fundraiser, the No Matter What! Golf Fundraiser at Tamarack Golf Club. Please come and join the Team Chicago Directors for a morning of walking golf and good cheer. This event takes place (as the name suggests) No Matter What the weather is, so be prepared for whatever Mother Nature throws at us! Registration is ongoing, register here: https://www.waasports.org/Default.aspx?tabid=323154

We are adding to our social event schedule this year with a new Parent Social Night on Saturday, January 25 from 7-11pm. This event will also be held at Tamarack and will include trivia, karaoke and a silent auction with some great prizes. Tickets include an open bar and food. Registration information will be sent out in the near future, but mark your calendars for a fun night.

Our final social event is our Bowling Night. This will take place on February 8 at the Fox Valley Bowl in Wheaton. All players, parents and family members are invited. This event has grown every year and tickets include free pizza and soft drinks and bowling. Ticket information will be available soon, but again make sure to add the date to your calendar.

We all look forward to a fun, productive winter season! Have a Happy Thanksgiving, we will see you on the field!

Sincerely,

Dave Lovercheck
Technical Director
Team Chicago

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Five Team Chicago teams advanced from the group play stage of the Illinois Youth Soccer Association State Cup to the Quarterfinals, held this weekend in Rockford, IL.

The 2002, 2004 and 2005 Elite teams each advanced as undefeated group winners while the 2001 and 2003 teams advanced as runners-up. Each of the teams will play to advance to the Semi-finals held on Sunday, October 27 with the Finals to be played on November 2. IYSA State Cup Winners advance to the US Youth Soccer Regionals in June, 2020 to compete for a place in the National Championship.

Team Chicago is the only club in Illinois to have all five teams advance to the quarterfinals. Good luck to all of our players, parents and coaches in the quarterfinals and beyond!

Lauren Doerr Commits to Butler!!

Posted by Team Chicago Academy at Sep 9, 2019 9:19AM PDT
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Team Chicago Academy-2002 Elite standout Lauren Doerr has accepted a great scholarship offer to continue her academic and soccer career at Butler University. Lauren, who attends Morton High school in Morton, IL, will be part of Co-Head Coaches Tari St. John and Rob Alman’s 2021 recruiting class.

Butler University is a member of the NCAA Division I and competes in the Big East Conference.

Team Chicago Staff Announcement!

Posted by Team Chicago Academy at Aug 2, 2019 10:29AM PDT
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Team Chicago is pleased to announce two additions to the Coaching Staff for the 2019-20 season!

Alan Cross joins Team Chicago as Youth Director. Alan comes to Team Chicago from Lombard Firebirds where he coached multiple teams and age groups from U7-U23 over the past five seasons. Alan will be coaching the following teams in the 2019-20 season:

- Team Chicago Academy-2006 Elite
- Team Chicago 2008 Elite
- Team Chicago 2009 Elite
- Team Chicago 2010 Elite

Alan will have administrative duties including helping set program standards and guidelines and assisting the younger Team Chicago teams. Alan is working towards his UEFA ‘B’ license and also is working his way up the US Soccer Coaching License pathway. He has a Sports Coaching and Administrative degree from South Wales University. A native of Scotland, Alan and his wife live in Plainfield.

Zoe Swift will be coaching the 2011 Elite girls. Zoe is a former Team Chicago player who went on to an outstanding college career at the University of Kentucky before playing with the Chicago Red Stars, West Ham United in London, England and the Puerto Rico Sol. We are happy to have Zoe back with Team Chicago to pass on her experience and love of the game to our youngest players.

Please join us in welcoming these new staff members to Team Chicago!

Team Chicago Staff Announcement!

Posted by Team Chicago Academy at Jul 29, 2019 8:33AM PDT
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Team Chicago is pleased to announce that Phil Nielsen will be taking over the role of Girls Director (Chris Brown has left the club for a role at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee). Phil will be responsible for overseeing the girls program in addition to his role as Director of College Recruitment where he assists Team Chicago players in the college recruitment process. Phil is currently the head coach of three Team Chicago Academy Elite girls teams for the 2019-20 season: 2001 Elite, 2002 Elite and 2003 Elite.

Prior to returning to Team Chicago earlier this spring, Phil was the Academy Director at the Cincinnati Development Academy. Phil recently completed his US Soccer Federation ‘A’ license and holds a UEFA ‘A’ license as well as multiple United Soccer Coaches diploma’s. He is a longtime Regional ODP Head Coach and is an Assistant Coach with the US U23 Women’s National Team and a US Women’s National Team Scout.