Fall 2024

The purpose of this overview is to provide you with information regarding LSA and Rush North’s upcoming fall recreational soccer program. We have attempted to address many common questions that are asked. However, if you need additional information, please contact Mike Ford (mikefordlsa@gmail.com) or Steve Abbinate (steve@chicagorushsoccer.com), the Foundation Director for Chicago Rush North.

LSA and Chicago Rush North work together to provide a Recreational Soccer program. Our program is open to players attending Pre-Kindergarten (age 3 or older) through 5th grade. The goal of the recreational soccer program is to give young soccer players an introductory understanding of the game in an upbeat, organized, fun and instructional training setting. In developing players, we recognize that young athletes have varying levels of experience and exposure to soccer. The LSA Recreational Soccer league and Chicago Rush North look forward to the opportunity to partner with you and your young athletes to develop a love for soccer.

• Practices (K-5th grade) will be led by Chicago Rush North training staff who will provide an age appropriate, professionally developed soccer curriculum to guide practice sessions and coaching instruction. Each practice will be spent learning a variety of basic soccer fundamentals (i.e. dribbling, passing and shooting). Practice sessions may also include small sided games with an emphasis on basic positioning, teamwork and strategy. The players will be given the opportunity to apply what they have learned in league games.
• Players who wish to obtain additional professional instruction can register for the Chicago Rush North Emerging Talent ID Program. It is designed for players who want to bridge the gap between recreational and competitive/ travel league soccer. Additional information can be obtained on the travel soccer page at www.chicagorushsoccernorth.com.
• Practices for players in K-5th grade will take place Monday through Thursday, with games being held Saturday. Pre-K players will have one combined practice / game session per week scheduled for Saturdays. Additional information regarding tentative practice and game times is provided in the “Division Summary” section below.
• NEW THIS YEAR: We will be using TeamSnap to provide you with scheduling, team rosters, and all communications. You will receive directions on how to download and set up your TeamSnap profile with your registration confirmation.
• ALSO NEW THIS YEAR: A big thank you and congratulations to Chris Horteales from Chicago Rush, who is beginning a new role with the organization! Chris was instrumental in running the program last year. Additionally, we would like to welcome Steve Abbinate to the team. Steve is the new Foundational Director for Chicago Rush and will be working with all of you throughout the Fall season. He brings a wealth of playing and coaching experience and has some fantastic ideas on how we can better engage the players, coaches, parents and community! Here is a link to Steve’s bio.
• CONTINUED FROM LAST YEAR: Flexible-schedule practices held for K-5th grade participants. The request via registration is that you express your desired day slots (i.e. Monday/ Wednesday or Tuesday/ Thursday). However, a simple email to Steve Abbinate, Rush Director is what will be asked for when you need to attend a practice out of your slot, OR if you would like to add additional practices to your week (no extra charge). At a minimum 2 days participation is recommended and, again, you are more than welcome to add additional soccer practice days as your player and your schedule can accommodate.
• Practice Sessions will start 2 weeks before Labor Day (Monday, 8/19) to take advantage of warmer weather months and hopefully end before the snow!!!
• Saturday Game Days with your respective teams will begin the Saturday AFTER Labor Day weekend (Saturday, 9/7). We will have 8 scheduled Saturday Game Days!
• Also Once Again: Our Preseason Recreational Tournament will again take place this Fall!! Included in the Pre-Season Tournament will be our Preseason Culver’s Custard Social!! This event will be held on Saturday 8/24. You don’t want to miss this!
• Chicago Rush North will provide onsite professional coaching staff to help the local teams and volunteer coaches. We will also provide the referees to oversee each game.
• All players will receive a free tournament t-shirt on attendance.
• It is completely optional for your child to enter the tournament. To enter, please check the box on registration and your account will be charged an additional $20.
• We aim to provide a fun and safe soccer experience for all participants to bring the soccer community closer.

Volunteers Needed – Commissioners, Coaches and Other Volunteers

LSA is an all-volunteer organization that relies on parents to run our youth sports programs. When registering, please consider volunteering to be a division Commissioner, a Team Coach, assist with the Soccer Ice Cream Social or assist with Picture Day. Your volunteerism would be greatly appreciated.

Please do not let a lack of coaching experience or soccer knowledge deter you from coaching or volunteering in any of the roles noted above. Practices will be coached by our professional Chicago Rush North training staff and parent volunteers will ONLY be responsible for coaching the Saturday games. At the Pre-Season Coaches Meeting, LSA will provide all coaches with basic soccer skills and age-appropriate soccer guidelines that will help facilitate games.

2024 Key Dates

Registration Fees

Registration for the fall season will open by Friday, July 19 and will close at 11:59 pm on Wednesday, August 14. Registering by August 14 allows volunteers adequate time to form teams and effectively communicate information to coaches and parents. Requests for registration after August 14, will only be granted if roster spots are available and will be subject to a late registration fee. Registration fees are as follows:

Division Summary

[1] Pre-Kindergarten players must be 3 years old by September 1, 2024.

[2] Boys and Girls Divisions may be changed as a result of enrollment numbers within each. For example, it is entirely possible Kindergarten and 1st Grade Divisions would be combined and/or that 4th/ 5th Grade Boys and Girls Divisions would be formed into a Coed Division in order to field enough teams.

[3] Game schedules shown above are tentative and subject to change. Game schedules may be impacted by weather, holidays and potential matches against teams from other communities. Every effort will be made to communicate the game schedule as early as possible to allow time to reschedule games where significant conflicts occur.

Picture Day

Pictures days have not been scheduled. Your coach will inform you what day and time your team’s pictures will be taken and the location.

Field Location

Generally, all Recreational soccer practices and games are played at North Park. A field map of North Park can be found here. The field assignment for your practice sessions and Saturday Game Days will be included in forthcoming correspondence.