Monday - Thursday, July 22-25

12:30pm - 3:00pm   

Ages 10-18    

$125 for Fire Players

$150 for Non-Fire Players

Featuring Fire Staff Coaches, Led by David Wood

*Fitness component first 30-45 minutes lead by Staff Coaches and Certified Fitness Trainer Dianne Strawser.

*Focus on proper technique, shot preparation, shot selection, creative play, and competitive 1v1 to 4v4 environments.

The Chicago Fire Summer Camp experience returns to Michigan Fire Juniors the week of June 22-25! After a very successful program last year, we look forward to seeing you back this year with your friends and teammates!

The week will include morning Recreational and Competitive Summer Camps, as well as an evening RTS Camp for advanced players!

Register TODAY and you will be entered in our FREE Prize Drawing for your chance to win some amazing prizes, such as a private suite at a Chicago Fire game at Toyota Park, for up to 16 people!

REGISTRATION And More Information: http://www.youthelitesoccer.com/event/show/30836792

QUESTIONS? Contact Lee Hannant at lhannant@chicago-fire.com or call 708-496-6774.

Coach Frank is offering a free extra training day for any current U10 age boys.

It takes place at the 28th Avenue fields every Friday afternoon from 5:00-6:00 p.m., and it is open to club and non-club members.

In a recent article in the “National Soccer Coaches Association Journal,” I was fascinated by a paper that spoke to one of the most destructive trends in youth soccer, and that is the tendency for parents to “chase the next big thing.”

The NSCAA article is about how kids are constantly being moved by their parents from one club to another looking for some kind of advantage over the next child in the race for coveted college scholarship money. In the process, the child is put under tremendous pressure at a very young age with a common outcome being, not a college scholarship, but a young person who eventually loses his/her passion for the great game of soccer. Parents of these young children chase the next best training method; parents chase the best teams, or the club that is in vogue at the time while the friendships and relationships that were built with teammates and coaches in their neighborhood club are lost in the shuffle. Furthermore, they may be leaving a club that is actually meeting the child’s needs in search of greener pastures.  

Parents who are chasing the next big training method should know that the best training method for youth soccer players includes the Coerver Method. Every country in the world develops their youth soccer players with this method or something that closely resembles this method. The Michigan Fire stresses Coerver Method at every age group. Many of our coaches have been trained in the Coerver Method while earning a Coerver Youth Diploma. Consumers all over the country are being convinced regularly that there is some new way of training that will make your son/daughter a star when reasonable people understand that becoming a star is the result of having a passion for the sport, having a God given talent, hours of practice, having a first rate work ethic, being coachable and learning the skills necessary to solve difficult soccer problems.

Parents often chase the best teams. This is a mistake on a number of levels. First off, at the youth level the team that wins the most isn’t always the most skilled or best coached team, but simply a collection of the biggest and strongest kid in the age group in the area. Over the years, I have seen so many of the teams that were unbeatable at young ages plateau and get passed up by teams of late developers who were truly the better soccer players all along. What is more important is that your son/daughter plays for a coach that is developing in your child a love of the game while at the same time nurturing that child’s passion. In a document produced by the United States Soccer Federation called, “Player Development Guidelines for Coaches” it is stressed that, “it is always nice to win, however, that should never be your focus at the younger age groups (under 14).” In fact, the best development comes when you are playing for a team that wins roughly half of its games. If your son or daughter is the best player on that team, then moving to another more successful team will rob him/her of an opportunity for them to emerge as a leader and will rob him or her of the opportunity to raise the level of play of those around him/her.

As a Director of Coaching, I hear many of the concerns of our soccer parents. Some concerns are valid; some are not. I would encourage our parents to try to relax and enjoy watching your child play the great game of soccer. What you should know is that we have at Michigan Fire qualified coaches who are trained in the best methods for developing players. We have competitive teams in every age group, and we have a club that compares favorably with any club in the state in terms of what we have to offer your son or daughter. 

The Michigan Fire Juniors is committed to the technical development of every player, and is offering a very unique opportunity for our U10-U12 players of both genders with a new program for this spring. The new program is called the TOTAL (Technical Obsession To Advance Learning) Technical Hour and is offered at our 28^th Ave training fields four nights per week, Monday-Thursday from 4pm-5pm each day. This allows our U10-U12 players to get in some extra training specific to their technical development before their regular team training.

We expect most players will choose to come on one or both of their normal training nights, however players are allowed to come on off nights, also. Training will be lead by our Technical Director Dan McAllister and our new coach David Wood with the assistance of other MFJ’s coaching staff, and some of our older club players. Players will NOT need to register for any of these TOTAL Technical Hour sessions. Each player must bring their own soccer ball, water bottle, and an excellent work ethic.

Technical skills are the foundation of every player’s future, and players simply can NOT touch the ball too often. Most American players do not spend enough time on these necessary skills in team practice or individually on their own, and consequently are often unable to play at the speed the game demands as they advance. Ball Mastery, or Technical Precision is a life-long journey of making the ball do exactly what the player needs under increasing pressure and at every increasing speeds, yet it is the most fundamental and foundational part of every players “tools.”

TOTAL Technical Hour – 28^th Avenue Fields

Monday thru Thursday from 4pm-5pm beginning April 8!