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Indiana Fire Juniors
Fall Newsletter
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 Executive Director Mark Webber
Welcome back from an exciting summer in world soccer and an exciting summer in the world of Grand Park! This past summer brought one of the most entertaining and exciting sets of World Cup matches in recent memory. The soccer and sporting world was captivated by a
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month of
daily day-long soccer activity. IFJ hosted a number of well-attended watch parties with a
handful of our generous restaurant partners:
Thanks to all who attended and supported our partners.
Shortly after the end of an exhilarating world cup final, Grand Park was buzzing with the arrival of a new summer tenant, the
Indianapolis Colts. The City of Westfield did a fantastic job of painting the park blue and welcoming the Colts as a 10-year partner to Grand Park.The collaboration and cooperation of the Colts and the City with Indiana Fire and WYSA during all phases of the transition were extraordinary. We look forward to working with this crew over the next nine summers!
This fall will begin the club's fifth season as Indiana Fire Juniors, a Chicago Fire affiliate
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club. We will remain an affiliate club of the Chicago Fire for at least another three years - we signed an extension this summer! As a club, we strive to improve our member experience by improving key areas of the club. This includes upgrades to our staff, facilities, education, internal procedures and the level of content and communication to our members.
New partnerships and programming
This year the club has embarked on a number of partnerships and programming affiliations to enhance the experience of our membership:
- Soccer Village: The club has partnered with a local retailer for shoe and fan gear support. Shop on line at www.soccervillage.com or stop into their retail store and use you IFJ discount for Adidas athletic shoes. Look for IFJ/WYSA coupon codes in email blasts and on line.
- Lil Kickers at Grand Park - IFJ is pleased to bring a soccer based youth development program for 2-5 year olds to Grand Park. This program will be offered on Wednesdays and Sundays- sign up today for Little Kickers at Grand Park at www.offthewallsports.net
- Friday night Futsal at the Pacer Athletic Center- IFJ will again work with the Field House at Grand Park to add some additional opportunities for our players to work on their foot skills under pressure. We are working with new management on timing and sign up data- look for games to start in November.
- PRO X Athlete Development - A new building is going up at 651 E 191 street for athlete development. IFJ and WYSA members will have preferential access to PRO X speed and agility training, and Techniques Soccer School for individual and small class technical improvement. Programs will commence in November- Sign up data will be forth coming.
Small group training activities
In addition to program partners above, IFJ staff member Paul Dolinsky will be providing small group training for the club. Paul joins us after coaching for 12 years in San Diego. He returns to the Indianapolis area where he attended Carmel High School before going to Holland to pursue and begin his professional playing career. Paul represented the United States from U14 - U20 with the Youth National Teams.
Training sessions will hone in on all technical facets of the game and are a great opportunity to get not only extra, but specific touches on the ball that relate to the game.
Available slots are Monday thru Thursday from 3:45 pm - 4:45 pm. If a later start time is needed the session will need to conclude by 5 pm.
Small Groups are the preferred method, as it allows for each session to end with game simulated pressure situations.
Contact Paul directly if you are interested in some extra technical work:
[email protected].
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Volunteer hours requirement
All IFJ families are asked to volunteer between 9 and 12 hours each year per registered child. WYSA Recreational Soccer families are asked to volunteer two hours each season. Families who receive scholarships, whether need-based or merit-based, are asked to volunteer twice as many hours - 18 hours for travel, DA and ECNL players and four hours for Recreational soccer players.
Volunteer opportunities are available throughout the year during our many scheduled tournaments and special events. All families will receive an email when a volunteer sign-up goes live, so you can select a time slot that works with your schedule.
Although most volunteer shifts require the volunteer to be at least 21, we will have several opportunities during our March events for older high school players to serve as field marshals and earn their own volunteer hours.
Why do we say 9-12 hours? Because volunteer shifts vary, it may be difficult to reach exactly nine hours. The 9-12 range is roughly three volunteer shifts.
Families were given the opportunity to pay a $300 volunteer buyout fee when registering for the 2018-19 season. If you would like to pay that fee now, please send an email to
[email protected] and she will charge the card on your GotSoccer account.
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Accomplishments and Accolades
Did you know that
Bailey Cappella (04G Red) carried a 4.0 GPA and was named to the National Junior Honor Society at Clay Middle School last spring?
Henry Yoder (04B White) was also named to the National Junior Honor Society at Westfield Middle School and earned a perfect attendance award last year. Not to be outdone, his sister
Hannah Yoder (07G Navy) received the Presidential Gold Academic Award at Oak Trace Elementary and also scored a perfect attendance award!
The Indiana Fire Juniors is proud of its player accomplishments, both on and off the field. We maintain a list of player accolades
here. To inclcude your player, please fill out the form at
https://ifj.formstack.com/forms/accolades.
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Keep in touch!
The clubs key technical and coaching leadership is listed below:
The clubs key business and administration leadership is listed below:
- General club concerns, partnerships, business liaisons, affiliate expansion, - Executive director Mark Webber - [email protected].
- Club business, policies, vendors, budgets, team finances, insurance/risk management - Director of Business Development Christina Hord, [email protected].
- Developmental Academy Administration, Event Support, Fundraising support, Topsoccer, Shannon Majeski, [email protected].
- Travel programs, Adidas partnership, uniforms, club manager liaison - Administrative Director Lisa Macdonald, [email protected].
- Got Soccer Player Registration/Payments Questions, Recreational Program, Scholarships, Club Newsletters - Administrative Director Lori Roberts, [email protected].
- Tournament and Event management - John Simmonds, [email protected].
- Tournament and Event management support and field liaison, Josh Lindemann, [email protected].
Remember, if you have a specific question about your child's playing time or other team-related questions, please start by working with his or her individual coach before approaching one of the directors of coaching.
The club is committed to working in an environment of continual improvement. Through town hall meetings, manager meetings, and providing all of our direct contact info we want to hear from you on what is going well and what is not going well. It is our goal to provide all encompassing playing platforms at the highest level playing facility with the highest quality coaches. Customer feedback is crucial as we develop our plans and process's for long-term success.
Looking forward to another fantastic year.
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