Introduction

In the Fall of 2022, I had just come off coaching a really good U9 rec soccer team.

It was a fun season. My daughter started showing signs of being a good little soccer player. We had a bunch of her friends on the team who were also showing the same signs. We had a blast.

At the end of the season a couple of the other coaches approached us, and a few of her teammates, about playing together in an indoor travel soccer league over the winter.

Our daughter was in third grade. She was having fun. I was having fun coaching.

My wife and I were hesitant. We were both athletes and the travel scene was barely existent when we were growing up. We played multiple sports, whatever was in season, and we loved it. Why screw this up? Why the big hurry? Plus, selfishly, are we ready to spend our lives on a soccer field? And worst of all, are we going to beat the love of the game or burn her out? We seemed to hear that was a common thing.

But, peer pressure is also a common thing.

When our daughter found out that all of her friends were "in", she pleaded with us to play. So we relented...reluctantly.

Fast forward to today, that team has won a Junior State Cup, the top division of the Illinois Women's Soccer League, multiple tournaments playing up in age division and on and on.

And most importantly, our daughter is "all in" and having the time of her life with her friends.

Not only was it great for our daughter, but one of those coaches, Joe Janus, is now the President and Director of Coaching at Ignite FC.

Looking back, thank goodness we said yes.

Not Your Sister's Experience

The scenario we described above is atypical.

Unfortunately, too many parents and young girls soccer players find this out the hard way.

As parents, I wish we could emulate the above experience for every aspiring young soccer player.

But when you look at all of the converging factors, you start to realize how unique the situation was:

Great coaches. Two coaches who knew the game very well and wanted to keep coaching their daughters in travel. They have threaded discipline, skill development and soccer IQ perfectly with keeping the environment fun and positive.

Great freedom. They found a club that would let them coach and bring a whole team over as a package. As the team grew, the coaches maintained the autonomy to take the team in the right direction.

Great kids. This team is comprised of a bunch of talented, hard-working, selfless girls. They are the epitome of a team. Very little concern for individual accomplishment, everybody knows their role, and they just love to compete with, and for, each other.

Great Families. The coaches may have done as good of a job recruiting parents as they did talented young players. A bunch of parents that trust the process and stay out of the way.

Great Continuity. The coaches have been consistent. The roster has been consistent, with only a few minor changes. Things can run their course, and sometimes change is necessary, but we underestimate the role consistency can play. If ain't broke...

Great Mentors and Colleagues. As the team grows, and has more success, more people are taking notice. This of course, may attract some attention from the self-serving variety, but the refreshing part has been the genuine enthusiasm many have shared for this team's success. Great relationships are being formed on the journey. I want to take a second to point out a few worthy of special mention:

Kevin McBride, founder of Blue Fire Soccer. Kevin has coached and mentored some of the best female players in our area. He has a genuine, altruistic passion for developing the young girls game. He has been a huge go-giver, sharing his time, wisdom and expertise.

We need more Kevin's in the game.

Christina Murillo, trainer and coach at Chicago Fire Youth Soccer Club. Christina, a former professional player and member of the Mexican national team, coaches a team that our team regularly competes against. Our coaches have a great respect for Christina and have struck up a collegial relationship. So much so in fact that Christina has taken her personal time to come out and train with our team. She has a genuine passion for developing the girls game that goes beyond winning and losing.

We need more Christina's in the game.

If you have had a child play any form of travel sports, chances are you have gotten to this part of the article and completely agree with the assessment that this situation was a "unicorn".

Too many kids are subject to a bad travel sports experience.

This sucks.

Sports play a vital role in the development of children. It can be argued that the travel sports culture is doing the opposite. We are burning kids out and retiring kids from sports way too early.

We can do better.

A Better Way

I work for an amazing company, shameless plug for one of our partners at Ignite FC, john greene Realtor. Like many companies, the origin story usually starts with somebody looking around and saying "there has to be a better way."

This was the case for John Greene back in the mid-70's when he noticed the real estate industry losing it's professional standards. It agitated him to the point of starting his own firm.

Having an idea is one thing. Executing on it is something entirely different.

It takes equal parts courage and crazy.

As Steve Jobs famously said, "The people who are crazy enough to change the world, are the ones that do."

80% of small businesses don't make it to their 5th anniversary.

Almost 50 years later, john greene Realtor is thriving.

A Better Way....for Girls Soccer?

When Joe and I's younger daughters started to get the itch to play travel soccer, we started to analyze our options.

We realized that replicating the environment created for our older daughters may be a tall task, we were emboldened to try.

When we explored our options, none of them checked enough of the boxes.

Now I want to be clear, our area has a bunch of really GREAT travel soccer organizations.

It's just that, our experience with the older girls was anchoring our expectations, and we didn't want to compromise any of the parts of the recipe that worked.

It started with a lot of conversation.

We realized we may not be able to completely recreate the recipe, but what if we could create an environment where, more often than not, it's more likely to happen?

And with that, Ignite FC was born.

We recruited enough girls for a couple of teams in the winter of 2023/24 and those girls have decided to stay on with us as we compete in our inaugural season in the IWSL.

With a blank canvas. We got to work on our purpose, mission and vision and our core beliefs.

What We Believe

We believe soccer can ignite courage and confidence in young girls.

We don't see soccer as the product. We see it as a tool. The end product is creating a bunch of young girls who have the tools; confidence, grit, positive attitude, discipline, mindset, selflessness, to become leaders in life.

We believe in developing the love for the game.

Speed training thought leader and accomplished Head Track Coach at Plainfield North, Tony Holler ( a great follow on X by the way) says it best, "Kids are good at what they like. Obsessed with what they love."

Going to soccer practice shouldn't feel like work. It should be the most exciting part of a kids day. Creating a fun and positive environment helps kids fall in love with the game. Love creates the recipe for developing grit, skill and confidence that is ultimately the best by-product of playing a sport.

We believe that great coaches set the tone.

What do you call a bad or great coach? Coach. We have all had a great coach in our lives, and likely a bad one. The differences are extraordinary. Finding and developing great coaches is very hard. At Ignite FC, we are obsessed with getting this part right. Which is why you may not see us field a ton of teams, which means a true tryout experience with cuts, because we are resolute in making sure we don't grow past a great coach.

We Believe in Grassroots Development

Are you just beginning your travel soccer journey? Great!

Anybody can win with a roster full of talent and experience. The game needs more coaches that are passionate about cultivating talent. That's exactly what we are about.

We Believe in Rec Soccer

Do a quick google search of travel tryouts locally and you will find organizations offer tryouts for U6. That's 6 years old and younger!

You will notice we don't offer teams below U9.

We strongly encourage, like we did with our own daughters, to wait until at least 8 to start the travel journey.

At the young ages, we believe playing recreational soccer is the right option. The great news, is that there are some amazing recreational programs in our area. Let them have fun and fall in love with the game at that age.

We believe in Skill over Strategy

Soccer is a team game. The goal is to score or prevent goals. Goals happen because of great individual skill. No amount of strategy will make a poorly skilled team good.

Especially at a young age, implementing certain strategies can lead to advantages in a game situation.

Our focus on skill development is a philosophy that influences our practices. You will not see a lot of time spent on things like set pieces. You will see us spend a lot of time with the ball at our players feet.

We believe in Skill over Scores

If you need to know the score of a game or scrimmage, just ask the kids, they know! While soccer is a game, and travel soccer is, by nature, more competitive, we want to keep competition in context.

While winning games is not the primary goal, it is a byproduct of doing the right things over time. And don't mistake us, when we win, we will celebrate the progress!

Let's Wrap...

We hope this article has given you some context for WHY we started Ignite FC and WHY we think the way we do.

If you enjoyed learning about our philosophy and you have a daughter trying to figure out the next step in their soccer journey, we'd love to connect!

Send us an email at [email protected]

Based in North Plainfield, we serve Plainfield, Naperville, Oswego, Aurora, Bolingbrook, Romeoville, Joliet, Shorewood, Yorkville and the surrounding area.