Fire Player Developement Update
July 1, 2009 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Chicago Fire FC News Release
CHICAGO, IL (July 1, 2009) - The Chicago Fire Premier Development teams just finished another impressive week of play. The Fire PDL team is eager to resume play this week in hopes of continuing their consecutive number of playoff appearances. The Super-20 team travels to Ohio this week to face two teams, the Windsor Spartans and the Cincinnati United Premier. The Fire Academy teams finished their season strong after enduring a tough 35 game schedule, and the Fire Juniors are prepared for their appearance in the 2009 MLS/SUM Cup, beginning on July 3rd.
CHICAGO FIRE PLAYER DEVELOPMENT AGENDA
** Sites/times subject to change. Please call 708.496.6725 or 6726 to confirm training schedule. All times Central.
July 1, 2009
Fire PDL vs. Michigan Bucks @ 6:00 PM - Toyota Park Training Field
July 3 - 8, 2009
Fire Juniors U-16/U-17 to play in 2009 MLS/SUM Cup - Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce Park, OH
July 4, 2009
Super-20 vs. Windsor Spartans @ 12:00 PM - Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH
July 5, 2009
Super-20 vs. Cincinnati United Premier @ 5:00 PM - Seven Hills High School, Cincinnati, OH
July 6, 2009
Fire PDL vs. Cincinnati Kings @ 6:00 PM - Toyota Park Training Field
CHICAGO FIRE PDL
The team had a break from matches, but will resume play Wednesday, July 1st at 6:30 PM versus their division rival, the Michigan Bucks, at the Toyota Park Training Field. According to John Dorn, Chicago Fire Player Development and Director of Fire PDL, "This is a critical three game home stand in the next week that will determine if we continue to hold the PDL record of consecutive playoff appearances, which currently stands at eight."
SUPER-20 TEAM
The Super-20 team posted a win of 2-0 over the Cincinnati Premier last Friday, June 26th. Goals were scored by Brendan King (University of Notre Dame) and Christian Meza (Bradley University). The Super-20 team faces the Windsor Spartans FC and the Cincinnati United Premier this week on July 4th and 5th.
CHICAGO FIRE ACADEMY
The Fire Academy U-16 team returned from the National Playoffs in Greensboro, North Carolina with a record of 2-1-0. The team dropped the last game to the New York Red Bulls 0-1, which prevented them from moving on to the championships in Los Angeles. However, this final result does not disparage the impressive record of the U-16 team, which was 20-5-8 for the season. The U-18 team also had a great season, posting a record of 16-5-9. The Academy coaches are already getting prepared for next season - identifying future players and building upon the success of this season.
CHICAGO FIRE JUNIORS
The Fire Juniors will be merging their resources by bringing together Fire Juniors teams from Illinois, Mississippi, and Louisiana to represent the Chicago Fire in the 2009 MLS/SUM U-17 Cup to be played at the Dick's Sporting Goods Park on July 3rd through 8th.
"I think it speaks volumes about the level that our Chicago Fire Juniors (CFJ) clubs are playing at when we are able to field a highly competitive side in the MLS/SUM Cup, composed completely of players with our affiliate CFJ clubs as every other MLS team will be filling their rosters with Academy team players. Our Academy teams just completed a grueling 35 match schedule and with the deep player pool we have with our Academy and CFJ clubs, we feel great about providing development opportunities for our top CFJ players and giving our Academy players a well deserved rest after a spectacular season," says John Dorn, Chicago Fire Player Development and Director of Fire PDL.
If the team wins this annual tournament, they will advance to the 2010 U-18's World Cup, which will take place in Spain.
For more information about Chicago Fire Player Development, visit the team's official website at www.chicago-fire.com.
• Discuss this story on the Major League Soccer message board...
Major League Soccer Stories from July 1, 2009
- Whitecaps Down Fusion - Vancouver Whitecaps FC
- Next up for Chivas USA: Honda Super Clásico vs. LA Galaxy - Club Deportivo Chivas USA
- FC Dallas in the Community: July 1 - FC Dallas
- Revolution adds Lithuanian forward Edgaras Jankauskas - New England Revolution
- Fire Player Developement Update - Chicago Fire FC
- Chivas USA acquires allocation money, 2010 SuperDraft pick in trade with LA Galaxy - Club Deportivo Chivas USA
- Fire Brings the Heat to the Taste This Week - Chicago Fire FC
- Dynamo Begin Open Cup Wednesday at Austin - Houston Dynamo FC
- Wizards Advance Past Minnesota Thunder Tuesday in Thrilling Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Contest - Sporting Kansas City
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
