The Firebirds Soccer Club is participating in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America project for establishing guidelines for all clubs to follow for training youth soccer players. Look for additional details as this project progresses.
Firebirds Sponsor Referee Clinics March 9th & 10th
If you or your son or daughter is at least 12 years old, loves the game of soccer, and is interested in earning some money, here is some information on becoming a referee. The Firebirds are sponsoring (paying for the room rentals) Entry level (2 days) and Recertification (1 day) clinics for Grade 8 referees at Sunset Knoll in Lombard on March 9th and 10th. There are also other clinics on other dates in several nearby towns. The costs of all clinics are $75. To register, go to the IYSA website at:
Additionally, the IWSL is subsidizing a clinic for Female referees in Schaumburg on March 23 and 24 (Cost is only $40). Please visit their website (www.iwsl.com) for more information. Spots do fill up quickly in all clinics, so don't wait.
We welcome new adult referees as well as young adults - it is a great bonding experience with your child. Generally, referees for the Firebirds begin as linesmen (Asst Referees) for a season or two until they are comfortable moving to the center. If you or your child do become licensed as a referee, please e-mail our referee assignor, Ximena Escobar (bolinica@hotmail.com) to be added to the certified referee list.
Lombard Firebirds Soccer Showcase Details
The Firebirds Showcase is an annual kick off celebration event for the soccer year. The concept is to get all Firebirds teams playing soccer in one location on the same weekend. Come out and experience how exciting it is for a community based club to fill a park with players, parents and fans!
This year the club will be playing intra-club games for an All Firebirds, all the time atmosphere. Each team will play 2 games against other Firebirds teams. Boys and Girls will play against each other to see who's the real King of the pitch!
There will be concessions and raffle drawings - come join in the fun!
Firebirds Hire High School Girls Coach
The Firebirds Soccer Club is excited to announce the hiring of Jennifer Dyer as the head coach of the U-15 Firebirds Fury Girls team. Jennifer was a 4 year starter at DePaul University, where she is listed in the Top 10 all-time in scoring and games played, among other statistics. She was a 4 year varsity starter and an All-State player at Naperville North High School, and a member of the Illinois ODP (Olympic Development Program) team during high school. Jennifer has previously coached for Oak Brook Soccer Club and the Naperville Soccer Association, and has a National USSF "D" Coaching license. Her full-time job is as a Physical Education teacher for District 44 at Glenn Westlake Middle School in Lombard, where many of the Firebirds players already know her as "Ms. Dyer". One of Ms. Dyer's short-term goals is to bring a soccer program to Westlake Middle School. "We are very excited to name Coach Dyer as the Firebirds first professional coach at the high school girls level, and believe that her background in soccer, coaching, and education makes her an excellent choice to prepare our players both for high school soccer and for success in life", said Andy Draus, Firebirds Soccer Club President. In addition to coaching the U-15 girls team, Coach Dyer will train two other Firebirds girls teams during the week.
Firebirds Partner with Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA)
For Immediate Release
Lombard Firebirds Soccer Club partners with positive coaching alliance
Focuses on winning and life lessons for youth athletes
May 10, 2011, Lombard, IL– Lombard Firebirds Soccer Club has established a partnership with Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) to ensure a positive, character-building experience for all soccer athletes in Firebirds Soccer Club programs. PCA (www.PositiveCoach.org), a Stanford University-based non-profit organization, conducts workshops for coaches, organizational leaders, and parents involved in schools and sports organizations serving five-to-18-year-old athletes. PCA also provides workshops for high school athletes.
“Working with hundreds of youth sports organizations around the United States, PCA has developed practical tools and guidelines to help youth athletes, their coaches and parents get the most out of sports,” said Andy Draus, President, Firebirds Soccer Club. “We recognize the tremendous opportunity for character-building sports offers for today’s youth, so we are embracing PCA’s Double-Goal CoachTM model, where winning is one goal and teaching life lessons is the second, more-important goal.”
“We are delighted to partner with the Lombard Firebirds Soccer Club” said PCA Executive Director Jim Thompson. “Together, we’ll strive to help their youth athletes take a positive approach to pursuing victories in athletic competition and in life.”
The workshops are scheduled to begin May 26, 2011.
About Positive Coaching Alliance
Since its launch in 1998, PCA has conducted thousands of live group workshops nationwide for roughly 200,000 youth sports leaders, coaches, parents and athletes, ultimately serving more than 1 million youth athletes. In 2006, PCA will conduct roughly 1,200 workshops across the U.S., primarily near hub markets of Northern California, Southern California, Chicago, Hawaii, New York City and Washington, DC. PCA’s National Advisory Board comprises luminaries from the worlds of academia, business and sports, such as National Spokesperson and Los Angeles Lakers Coach Phil Jackson, NBA and NCAA Champion Coach Larry Brown, former senator Bill Bradley, NFL Hall of Fame Member Ronnie Lott, Olympic Gold Medalist in Swimming Summer Sanders, University of North Carolina Men's Basketball Retired Head Coach Dean Smith, Cy Young winner Barry Zito, and Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach Herm Edwards.
Lombard Firebirds Soccer Club
The Firebirds Soccer Club is a competitive travel soccer club offering programs for the youth of Lombard and the surrounding communities, with teams for both boys and girls starting at U8 (under 8) to U18. The Firebirds motto is: Play Hard, Have Fun!
The club was established in 1994 and has grown to about 25 teams and 350 players! The club’s mission is to provide a quality environment in a competitive atmosphere for those children and young adults who are willing to dedicate their time and effort to the great game of soccer. Firebirds emphasize the integrity of the game, exemplified by the utmost good sportsmanship with the primary purpose to develop all players to the best of their ability.
For more information about the Firebirds Soccer Club or tryouts dates, please visit www.FirebirdsSC.com.
Firebirds Team of the Week
December 22, 2010
Firebirds Team(s) of the Week:
This week's Firebirds Team of the Week is the U-12 Boys Barcelona Select, coached by Shawn O'Brien. Playing in the competitive 8 team Melrose Park indoor soccer league, the Firebirds finished the regular season in 2nd place, losing only once. On Monday night, the Firebirds were re-matched against the only team that beat them, Riverside-Brookfield, in the U-12 division championship game. Trailing 3-0 at halftime, the Firebirds fought back, scoring 3 times in the 2nd half to tie the game, and force a penalty kick shootout tiebreaker. After 3 Firebirds players and 2 R/B players had scored, the Firebirds goalie saved the 3rd kick to give the Firebirds the championship. Congratulations to the boys on a great indoor season and an amazing comeback to win the championship.
Previous Firebirds Team of the Week Winners (Fall, 2010 Season):
Week One: Firebirds U-14 Select Girls-- Won Bolingbrook Labor Day Tournament
Week Two: Firebirds U-14 Boys Apollo-- Won 2 of first 3 games
Week Three: Firebirds U-12 Girls Blaze-- First Firebirds "B" team to win a game, defeating Challengers 3-1
Week Four: Firebirds U-12 Girls Select-- Won first game ever, defeating River Forest Rapids 3-1
Week Five: Firebirds U-9 Boys Everton - Won first two games ever, played in tournament championship;
FirebirdsU-13 Girls United - Won GE Fall Classic with 4 - 0 record.
Week Six: Firebirds U-11 Girls Sting- Won Midwest Wings Tournament in Oak Forest
Firebirds U-10 Girls Bulldogs- Won first 2 games of the season
Week Seven: This week's Firebirds team of the Week is the U-11 Boys Red Storm, coached by Joe Cali and Patrick Byers. The Red Storm defeated Kopion of Wheaton, a team they had lost to earlier in the season, 3-2 last Saturday for their third victory on the trot (english for "in a row"). More importantly, the Red Storm boys recently served as ball boys for a Northwestern University Soccer team 2-1 victory over Ohio State.
The boys are pictured below with Firebirds Soccer club alumni and Northwestern senior Matt Eliason. Matt, who played for the Firebirds from U-9 thru U-13 and was an all-state soccer player at Glenbard East, is the all-time leading goalscorer for the Northwestern Wildcats. Now that's cool.
Week Eight: Firebirds U-11 Boys Liverpool- Drew 3-3 for first result of the season
Firebirds U-14 Girls Fury-- Won 4 straight IWSL games
Week Nine: Firebirds U-10 Boys ACMilan Defeated first place team 2-1
Firebirds U-11 Girls Freedom Won 4th straight game
Week Ten: Firebirds U-15 Girls War Pigs Won 5-0 playing with only 11 girls.
Week Eleven: Firebirds U-9 Girls Celtics Finished first season
Firebirds U-9 Girls Olympians Played each other & went out for pizza
