it’s really unbelievable. I also find it sad some still try to defend his verbal abuse as “tough coaching “. I doubt RD would have the guts to speak to pro male athletes in the manner he did teenage girls. The club still takes advantage of players and parents today, just in different ways. Sounds like US club soccer and USSF view him as ineligible to coach, so hopefully that keeps him away.
ineligible to coach but hes still collecting a paycheck at eclipse some how. I dont understand how families still fund that club.
I thought Galaxy had Evolution people and an FCU guy. Are you saying someone from Eclipse has been coaching there too? Perhaps someone pretty low profile I would say though…
Oh ok! We talked about him about a year ago I think. I know nothing about him. Not everyone that coached for Eclipse is bad though. I know a few good ones.
Some parents like it because they are literally allowed to pick coaches or demand their player play certain levels of minutes or positions. Many rosters are so thin, the club as no choice but to listen to those willing to pay.
Interesting, almost had the kid go play for him, and it just felt off. So we went in another direction.
I think NK was a assistant coach for the 08's for a few months. I think he is coaching older boys teams now for Galaxy. The 08's coach is still the same guy since they were little's.
Anyone have a feel for 2026 girl commitments in Illinois? Looks like Eclipse and Rockford each have three-ish, Galaxy seems to have the most. What about Inter, Sockers, FC United or any of the rest after that?
I think the Girls 08 Illinois ECNL teams will finish in this order: Eclipse (19pts), Inter (15pts), Rockford (14pts)
That Galaxy was/is on a crazy heater. Send like they cooled off and things slowed down. It's been pretty quiet for Eclipse after they had their quick flurry.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DBJs3Hpza6E/?igsh=NGUzdnJiMTUxMnoz Case in point. Every one of these RL league cup champions are their clubs’ first teams at every age level. Give them an NL badge or give them their own division. Taking playoff spots away from appropriately placed RL (second) teams doesn’t make any sense. Compete at the appropriate level.
Agreed. Rockford 08’s beat Eclipse 08’s 5-2. Galaxy 08’s beat Rockford 08’s 1-0 recently in a friendly.
It is a weird year, A lot of the head to head competitions don’t turn out quite as you would expect based on previous common opponents. Eclipse 08 lost to Michigan Hawks 08, 5-0 this year, not great. However, Rockford 08 lost to the Hawks 08, 10-1 which was the worst beat down of the year in that conference so far.
wow - I didn’t notice that score, I wonder if they had players missing or sick, etc… Across all ECNL age groups in Illinois there have been a lot of players moving around. I am not sure any team is deep enough anymore to consistently play at their best, especially against better opponents. So results aren’t as consistent, especially against better opposition. If this age group change is truly official, it will likely shake things up a bit further for another year or two.