Chicago City Soccer Club

MESSAGE FROM OUR FOUNDER

“At CITY we are creating something really special. We want YOU, our CHICAGO CITY community, to play a key role in developing the club for the people. Using sport to bring our communities together is now more important than ever. Join the movement and help us build a positive future for our kids”

2014 CITY LAUNCH

To continue the celebration of our 10 year anniversary, 2014 saw so much success at CITY. The custom made jerseys were a huge hit as our first HS Girls team attended their first high school showcase in St Louis, we began our CITY in the Community with schools in need of programming. Our teams had success on and off the field as we began to build a brand of soccer on the field. It was a major challenge as how we were looking to develop players long term, would mean losing games trying to do things the right way. This was tough for many to take but those that trusted in the process began to see major success. We wrapped up an amazing first year with our first official awards night at Near North HIgh School.

USLA CUP 2023

ROUNDUP

COACH CHARLIE

This past week our Academy represented the club at the USL Academy Cup in Tampa, Florida. The USL offered competitions for the U19,U15, and U13 age groups. For the two younger groups the Academy Cup offered them their first exposure to the standards within the national platform of play. Both groups were made up of players spanning multiple academy teams, showcasing talent from each one of our academy age groups. The U13’s and U15’s both proved to be competitive within their brackets. While the results may not have all been positive, it gave our players a chance to set expectations for the future, The U19 group experienced the most successful week thus far in Academy competition. The team achieved a record of 3-1 on the weekend, with a +8 goal differential. We saw stand out performances from both Patrick Mikina as well as Peter Cirbo, with each achieving multi-goal games. The U19’s narrowly missed out on the final and in the end finished third in their bracket.

We are proud of all of our teams efforts given the heat and overall conditions

COACH TOMMY

It was a great experience for the club to get their first taste of the USL Academy Cup. The standard of competition was very high but a good way to get in much needed reps before the season.

I want to give a big thank you to

all the players, parents and families that came down to the event, we greatly appreciate the time, effort and money you put aside for this. Another shout out to the guest players who helped us out and are coming from different clubs, backgrounds and playing styles. It was great to see how quickly they made the transition from their own respective clubs and into the CITY environment. The players grew a bond and I’m sure they will all stay in touch for many years to come. The facilities, tournament staff and overall organization of this event was first class. The fields were immaculate and such a joy for our teams to experience what it’s like to play at such a well run event.

COACH TROY

Looking back on a successful Tampa tournament, I believe that our Chicago City Soccer Club USL Academy boys can be proud of themselves. We had some out of state additions to the family with two guest players from Ancient City Soccer Club and one from Utah RSL. Jaxon Patterson and Teddy Morgan joined our u15 & u13 teams respectively. Both Jaxon and Teddy were stand out players for me when I coached them last year during my time in Florida. Jacob Skiles who joined us from Utah was an amazing addition to our u13 team. All three out of state players were a credit to themselves and we can’t thank them enough for buying into what we at Chicago City are about on and off the field. We look forward to them joining us again in the future.

We also had guest players from the Chicago land area and those boys most composed of the younger siblings of our u19 players. This was an awesome and unique opportunity to have multiple family members compete at the various levels in our academy. The younger siblings are

definitely hot prospects and I cant wait to watch them continue to grow and one day compete at the u19 level and hopefully go a step further than their older brothers and potentially reach that USL Academy cup final!

Overall it was a fantastic away trip for everyone involved and from us as a staff we would like to thank all of those who participated in helping everyone travel safe, and return home safe.

COACH ORIN

Chicago City set off on the inaugural trip to the USL Academy Cup Located at the Tournament Sportsplex of Tampa Bay. City entered three teams into the competition with U13, U15, and U19 Academy teams making the trip, along with guest players from Chicagoland and a local Florida club.

Each team had various levels of success with the U13s winning two of their four games, which was a great response to their first tournament of this scale. The U15s had a smaller squad which had trouble in the Florida heat and did not manage to win despite some very close games. The U19 squad had the most prosperous weekend managing to win three games and finishing second in their bracket, narrowly losing 1-0 in their third game. With many collegiate coaches watching the 19s was a great advertisement for the level of player that we can produce at the club. Overall it was clear to see the level of team that we need to strive for, both in the Boy’s bracket and the Girl’s bracket. With many of these clubs being USL Championship or League 1 teams it is clear the level of professionalism and coaching is a high standard. With our growing player base and amazing coaching staff it is apparent the pathway to matching that degree of soccer.

GOALKEEPING KEY TO TEAMS SUCCESS

Coach Tom Paparounis is the clubs Director of Goalkeeping and has been with the club for over 8 years and with extensive professional and collegiate experience, through his Drive Goalkeeping company, he is committed to providing players with a unique learning environment for long term development as well as connecting players with opportunities to play at the highest level.

“Chicago City SC offers a competitive playing environment for collegiate players in the summer months leading up to their college season. We have been able to connect some of our players with USL W and USL 2 opportunities. The following players have come through our programs and are now contributing at the USL level with CITY.”

AUSTIN WAITE

Committed next year to Bradley University (NCAA D1)

MOLLY VAPENSKY

US Women National Team U16

ELISE KRONE

Freshman GK at TCU (NCAA D1)

GWEN HOYT

Sophomore GK at Quinnipiac (NCAA D1)

With the new appointments of Coach Eoin Wearen and Lekeisha Grumbs to our USLW, their recruitment along with Coach Josh Clark began in early fall. As the team began identifying players from the 22’ season, it was key for them to identify the individuals who were strong individuals both on and off the field last season.

Grumbs shared the key element to the recruitment process “Fortunately, after really positive conversations with these players, we were able to bring back several returners who have been a part of CITY over the past couple of years. These players truly represent what this club is all about and they will help continue to hold the high standards and culture we want to build on. Ultimately we are trying to create an environment where the players leave us at the end of the summer season, better players than what they were when they arrived.”

With the combined knowledge, experience and coaching styles of Wearen and Grumbs, the players have shown a great desire to join the club this summer as they believe the environment will help them develop even further as players in their respective careers. The team conducted video calls with all the players to ensure both parties felt it was a positive fit for both. This also gave the players an opportunity to ask questions about

the club, the league, and future goals of the program.

Coach Wearen expressed the importance of Coach Grumbs by saying “Having Coach Kei alongside me this summer is going to give us a real competitive advantage. She is a great role model for our players and can pass on her expertise within the top level of the women’s game as both a player and coach. Having role models is such an important aspect of sport and we believe our players this summer can go on to inspire a new generation of young female players both within our club and in Chicagoland as a whole.”

Aligning with our club mission to focus on homegrown players, recruiting top female athletes was no different. Coach Eoin, Kei, and Josh had to dig deep into hours of game footage throughout the girls fall season and completed very diligent research on the type of player they wanted to represent the CITY badge in the USL W league.

Coach Eoin stated “We believe that good people make great team-mates and so it was really important that the character and attitude of the players were just as good as the level of talent they possess. We are lucky that in the Chicagoland area, we have access to so many talented female players looking to elevate their game to the next level and beyond.”

Coach Kei added, “We also had several players attend our two try-out dates and we have had a large volume of emails and messages from

players who want to be a part of what we are creating at Chicago City.”

It was important to our CITY coaches that they built a balanced roster of players who, 1) younger HS players preparing for college, 2) players still in college looking at pursuing a professional career post college and, 3) post college players who can provide our younger players with the mentorship at playing at this level. All three pieces are key to building a successful team, and it seems the staff are very happy and very excited to get these players together as soon as possible.

Players consist of 5 Northwestern, 4 UIC, 3 from Pittsburgh and others from Tennessee,

Oklahoma State, Michigan, U of I, and NC state. Key returning players include 2022 captain and 3 year returner Kennedy Berschel (Illinois), 2 year returner Sydney Parker (De Paul) and 5 year returner and former professional in Europe, Jazmin Castanon. With many new faces coming in this year to add to the returning players, CITY should be pushing hard for a national title.

Coach Eoin added, “having Xcaret Pineda (OSU) and Kali Burrell (Michigan) who were both ranked in the top 10 recruits in the Midwest for class of 2022, we are just ready to bring the girls together, and kick off an exciting season ahead.

USLW SIGNED PLAYERS

CITY’s off season began quickly post season as Head Coach Charlie Latshaw III and Head of Recruitment, Josh Clark lead the way on creating a squad of the best talent throughout the region. It has been CITY’s goal from the beginning to align with the youth clubs ambition and invest in the local communities and their people. Charlie and Josh set out assembling a group of homegrown players or players who play their collegiate soccer throughout the Chicagoland area. Latshaw III shared his previous experience as a play “When I was in college, there was not a USL program here in the City of Chicago, and so I had to look elsewhere, and I had to go stay with host families, and live outside of this City. We want to give the kids in this city the opportunity, that we did not have, to stay at home, play locally,

and represent the club that they come from, and in a city they come from” Following a later recruitment process for the 2022 season due to the late appointments of Latshsaw III and Clark, they were determined to get ahead of the game for 2023. The first step for them was to identify which players from the 2022 season they wanted to bring back, and they have stayed through to their word as they pride themselves on investing in young players, while helping support their future careers within the game.

“We are proud to have 24 players returning to the squad who played either USL2 or Midwest Premier League with the Club in the 2022 season”.

This is a big statement from CITY as being able to keep players together will be key to their success in the 23’ season. With top performers from last season such as Bryce Blevins-Michigan, Marek GondaDepaul, Juan Gutierrez-UIC, Axel AlejandreLouisville, and Matthew Senanou-Xavier returning, CITY are looking in good shape for a strong playoff push this year. The club also held open tryouts for players throughout the Chicagoland area to create opportunities for those maybe playing a lower level in college, or pre and post college, or simply fell through the cracks. We are proud to announce we did sign multiple players from this process and we are excited to add these players to the mix.

“Charlie and Josh set out assembling a group of homegrown players or players who play their collegiate soccer throughout the Chicagoland area”

Clark expressed his passion in player identification and recruitment by saying “coming from a collegiate background as a coach, and a background especially in recruitment, a large focus for me is player pathways, and the growth for players to develop within America is underdeveloped compared to other European countries.” Clark

is key to not only recruiting talent outside of the organization but also internally, with our academy.

Another key piece to building a strong squad, is the relationship between our CITY staff and collegiate coaches, especially with our vision to represent the local NSCAA Division 1 programs.

“We are proud to have players from DePaul, UIC, Loyola, Northwestern, Chicago State, Northern Illinois, and Notre Dame all in the squad. We as a staff would like to give special thanks to the following college coaches; Sean Phillips-UIC, Russell PayneNorthwestern, Norris Howze-Chicago State, Graham Brennan-Loyola. Along with those coaches we would like to thank all the other coaches in our network who helped put us in contact with these very talented players.” Latshaw III & Clark Our USL staff have worked tirelessly throughout the off season recruiting, networking, and simply searching for the best local talent to ensure

the team are competing at the highest level this season. We are extremely proud to have 20+ schools represented in our squad this summer which include players from NCAA Division I, Division II, Division III, as well as NAIA programs.

Latshaw III wrapped things up by saying

USL2 SIGNED PLAYERS

“Overall we feel that we have compiled a squad who is ready to compete with some of the nations top teams. The squad is both deep in talent as well as character and should be a fantastic representation of what our club stands for. We look forward to an action packed summer which hopefully sees us competing for trophies in USL2 as well as the Midwest Premier League.”

Please take the time to watch through the video’s to understand the importance of your support as a CITY member to continue this amazing work on and off the field that our youth players will continue to benefit from. Thank you for your continued support.

“Overall we feel that we have compiled a squad who is ready to compete with some of the nations top teams”

CITY coaches attended a community event this month with Laureus - Sport for Good connecting with other local organizations to collaborate on how we can empower eachother for the betterment of our Chicago Youth.

Laureus USA is a non-profit, grant-making organization that works to improve the lives of youth and unite communities through the power of sport. Since 2012, they have impacted the lives of over one million youth by investing $20 million in sports-based youth development organizations around the country that unleash the power of sport to enhance physical and mental health, improve educational and employment outcomes, and address critical social justice issues. They have also provided trainings focused on positive youth development and social-emotional learning for over 1,400 coaches. Laureus USA is a member of the global Laureus network, which includes 7 National Laureus Sport for Good Foundations, 1 Global Foundation, the Laureus World Sports Academy (and Ambassadors), and the Laureus World Sports Awards. Learn more about Sport for Good at www.LaureusUSA.com.

COACH TROY

There are many great organizations out there that are serving their community with limited resources. One of the biggest barriers is the price of facilities and transportation. If the people in power can reduce these costs and support these organizations with more grant funding then the opportunity for communities to flourish even more would be guaranteed. From my past experience running a social enterprise in Scotland our collaboration with other entities was pivotal in helping us achieve the goals we did to get awarded one the top 3 social enterprises across the country. A big part of the success was the upskilling workshops and events that were available for our community leaders and community members, this is something I believe needs to happen more after my observations and listening to others at the Sport for good event.

COACH KEI

The event was the first networking event I attended in Chicago and I learned a lot from the event. It was interesting meeting people from so many different sports organisations who are impacting the youth of Chicago. I was able to share my knowledge and experience and learn from some great people who are helping Chicagoland excel.

COACH GARY

Having signed up for laureus I was very excited for my first event at Sport for Good Chicago. After meeting other organizations and coaches over a coffee we were split into two groups with me joining the coaches section.

We spoke how Laureus can help coaches with support and advice to stop coaches and volunteers suffering burnout and quitting. There were some great suggestions and I’m looking forward to seeing them put into practice.

Coming away from the event I felt very uplifted knowing there are so many people giving up their time to help young people to get into sport and I’m looking forward to myself and Chicago City Soccer Club doing our bit to help .

COACH LUIS

It was great seeing genuine people having genuine conversations. There were a lot of opportunities to share and connect with people who share a common goals. There were many diverse organizations that were pooled together to strengthen the community with a simple icebreaker and conversation which was rewarded with a nice lunch. Through many new connections I made, it was very easy to connect with people who were willing to share their stories and through some laughter we were able to bring many new neighborhoods together. I am excited to see what big things we can achieve together for our youth and more access to quality sports! Looking forward to the next one!

PRO CLUB NETWORK

As we continue our positive working relationship with the Chicago Fire FC and their Academy, we had the pleasure of hosting newly appointed Academy Director, Gary Lewis who has worked in the UK with Liverpool and Everton. Gary was able to share with our staff the Fire’s model and long term development plans. It was a nice follow up from when he and Fire’s VP of Soccer Ops were out observing our HS Boys at our College Showcase in February. We believe it is key to be working with our local professional clubs and learning from them and we are looking forward to more in the future as well as from the Chicago Red Stars.

To add to our professional network our Founder Nick Mulvaney has been working on his Masters in Sporting Directorship and on a recent trip home, he was able to meet with professional clubs leadership as we look to set up our first international travel event in the spring of 2024.

Nick had the pleasure of meeting with the CEO and Director of Football of Lincoln City FC, Sporting Directors of Salford City FC, Cambridge United FC, Academy Directors at Wolves, the Head and Assistant Coaches of Cambridge United, and Hitchin Town, the Head of Marketing at Stevenage Borough FC, and the Director of the International Development Academy in London. It has always been key at CITY that our staff invest in their professional development as we believe it can only help support not only the organization as it evolves but the players and coaches within it also.

AN AUDIENCE WITH A

s community is such an important part of Chicago City Soccer Club, we have been so pleased with how our social events have been going this year. Adding these mini series, our members are able to learn more about the people who drive our organization and ask questions with a comfortable environment. We encourage you all to make out for these events as we continue to grow our community through the sport.