Ela Soccer Club

I am very excited to be writing my first letter to the club on our new totally revamped web site. The new site has been developed to help us improve our ability to communicate with you, our members and guests about the various characteristics, initiatives, news, sponsors and accomplishments of the club. Just as important, I feel the new site will allow you to access the information you need in an efficient and logical way. The website is a work in progress so please take the time to review its features and usability and provide suggestions you may have regarding its improvement to websitesuggestions@elasoccer.com.

I want to thank Tony DiJohn, Ela’s outgoing president, for leaving the club in its strongest state ever. Under Tony’s leadership the club has grown to approximately 1500 members. Ela soccer club has become a place for everyone with boys and girls of all age groups, levels of ability and commitment represented. Tony’s success and the club’s success can be attributed to the capable people he has put in place to guide the various aspects of the club. You can meet these volunteers by visiting the Ela Board tab on the web site as well as the trainer information displayed in the Travel tab of the website. If you are visiting Kits please stop by and say thank you to Tony for a job well done. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.

For those of you who contributed to or attended the annual Ela dance and silent auction I want to extend my personal thanks for making the event a complete success. Roughly one hundred and fifty of you turned out to raise over $23,000 for the club. Learn more about the event in the Ela News tab on the web site. Look for more fun filled Ela events in the upcoming months.

As far as initiatives go, in addition to revamping our website we are focusing heavily on developing alternative funding avenues for the club. The largest and most obvious avenue for the additional funding is through local businesses. We are a club of over 1,500 families and our size makes us a valuable marketing asset to the business community. If businesses see a financial return for their investment they will continue to invest. Accordingly, it is important that when you see a named business on our website or in other Ela material you make a note to utilize that sponsor’s business. It is also important that you let that business know that you are spending your money with them because they support Ela. The more positive feedback they receive the more money they will donate. More money donated from the business community means less out of pocket expense and improved club services for you.

Our corporate fund raising efforts have just begun so if you have any suggestions or know of companies that would be willing to donate to the club in any manner please email us at sponsorshipideas@elasoccer.com. Lastly, although we have a number of qualified volunteers helping with this effort we can always use more help. If you have a penchant for fundraising or marketing or just want to help with this effort please contact us at the same address. We need all the help we can get.

Steve Morell
President
Ela Soccer Club

As another successful indoor season winds down, our focus, attention and excitement now turn to the upcoming Spring season. 

The Spring season however brings unique challenges that can test everyone’s patience and perseverance.  The inevitable “April Showers” which lead to rainouts, cancellations and rescheduling of games can test the resolve of even the most patient individual – please try and remain positive and understanding during these occurrences. 

Often once the Spring season commences, even though many hours will be spent traveling to and from practices, game fields and tournaments it is easy for parents and players to become distracted, anxious and worried regarding tryouts.  It is important to keep our focus and attention during the Spring season on the Spring season otherwise thoughts of future seasons can undermine and impact the camaraderie, team spirit and team goals of the current season.

It is worth constantly reminding ourselves throughout the season why we are involved in soccer and the goals here at Ela for the players, parents, coaches and volunteers.  Sportsmanship, fair play and an opportunity for soccer players to develop their skills, have fun and achieve their potential. 

Finally, and most importantly, a big thank you to all our volunteers whose time, effort and commitment make this club the envy of many.  I wish everyone a very healthy and successful season. 

Go Ela!!!

Gin Sharma
Director of Coaching
 

10/06/2008

It’s unbelievable that we are already nearing the middle of our fall season. Much has happened since the spring worthy of note.

Ela Elite Program Expands

I am excited to announce the expansion of Ela’s Elite program to include boys in the U16 and U23 age groups. The purpose of the Elite program is to provide a place to play within the club for those players that are able to compete at the highest level possible through their high school and college years. For our high school age players the Elite program provides a higher level of training and greater exposure regionally and nationally which will hopefully result in more collegiate opportunities. For college age players the U23 Elite teams will provide a place to play during the summer months to ensure the players maintain their sharpness leading into the fall collegiate season. Our long term goal is to provide Elite level teams at all high school ages and at the U23 age group. For more details regarding the Elite program visit the Elite tab on our website and related articles about our Elite U17 girls’ success at last year’s nationals held in Frisco Texas.

Ela State and National Success

The quality of the Ela program continues to grow as evidenced by the strong performances on both the state and national level this summer. Congratulations are in order for the U18 boys and to coach Matt Hammett for their 2^nd place state cup finish on June 7^th and 8^th . Congratulations are also in order for the U23 boys Elite team coached by Robert Meschbach for winning the national title out in Seattle Washington in August. Details of both team’s success as well as the accomplishments of our other teams this past summer can be found on our web site.

Ela Welcomes Tony Duffy and Robert Meschbach

I want to extend a warm welcome to Tony Duffy and Robert Meschbach both of which joined the club this year. The addition of both of these men provides added depth and experience to our quality training staff.

Tony has over 24 years of Professional coaching experience in the U.S, Australia and Scotland. Tony was selected as Illinois Youth Coach of the Year in 2002, and has been very active in the educational side of coaching including instructing and evaluating coaching courses on behalf of IYSA for the past 10 years. He has also been an Olympic Development Program evaluator for the state of Illinois. Tony played professionally in Australia and Scotland and was a member of the Scotland National Team. Tony holds a USSF, Australian and Scottish National A License.

Robert has over 10 years of professional coaching experience in the U.S. Robert led Eclipse Select U16 teams to the USYSA National Championship in 2001 and 2003. In the past year he led FC United U18 boys to a USYSA Illinois State Championship and Ela Elite U23 men to a USASA National Championship. Robert also led the Saint Viator Girls Varsity high-school team to back-to-back ISHA State Championships in 2002 and 2003. Robert has played professionally in Austria, Germany and in the US.

Important Help Needed

One of the great things about our club is the many wonderful volunteers that help to keep things running smoothly. In this regard we are expanding our volunteer base for two very important club functions, marketing and fundraising. We are looking for outgoing volunteers preferably with some time available during weekday business hours. This volunteer position will be responsible for providing greater exposure for the club inside and outside the community with the goal being to expand club membership. In addition the volunteer will be asked to approach local businesses regarding marketing partnerships with the club and much needed corporate donations. If this volunteer position is successful in generating income and increasing the membership we expect it could become a part time paying position. If you think you have the personality and can spare the time please contact Jackie Marais at (847) 726-8794 to set up an interview.

Kelly Don’t Go!

Lastly, it is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our Little Kickers director Kelly Naughtrip. Any praise I could lavish on Kelly would be an understatement. She has five years of volunteer service as the Little Kickers director and volunteer fundraiser. The success of the Little Kickers program has been and will continue to be the foundation of our club. We will truly miss her service although I suspect we will still see her kicking around the side lines from time to time. Kelly’s departure leaves a big hole to fill. We need someone to step in as the Little Kickers director beginning in the spring. If you are interested in helping please email Jackie Marais at jackie.marais@elasoccer.com