Indiana Fire Juniors November Newsletter

What's happening with the Indiana Fire Juniors and WYSA Recreational Soccer Club?

Indiana Fire Juniors

November Newsletter

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In this issue:

Director's message

Winter Training

Concussion Information

Fire & Ice Ball

Support Our Sponsors

Executive Director Mark Webber

I greet you as we enter Season 2 of our three-season sport (fall, winter, and spring). This past fall season again saw many successes for IFJ and WYSA on and off the field. Off the field, we were blessed with a picture perfect weather weekend as we completed our fourth annual Grand Park Cup Tournament. This year's event had 312 teams participating from all over the country, with Indiana Fire Juniors teams taking home trophies in many age groups. As always, we thank our volunteers, sponsors and partners and know we cannot have successful events without them!

Team champions! On the field, the fall saw the younger side of Indiana Fire Juniors take home a total of 14 division championships - seven division championships on the girls' side and seven division championships on the boys' side. Many of our players also had great success in their high school seasons - 21 of our female student athletes and nine of our male student athletes represent their high schools on all-district teams. IFJ also has (at last count) 12 female alumni participating in the NCAA soccer tournament. Boys' brackets will be determined this weekend. Come and watch many IFJ alumni participate in the Men's Big Ten Tournament at Grand Park this weekend. Indiana University plays Maryland at 1 pm Friday and Michigan plays Wisconsin at 3:30 pm Friday at Grand Park.

Fire & Ice Ball: As the season of giving approaches, IFJ prepares to hold the first of our two major fundraisers - The 4th Annual Fire & Ice Ball. Save the date of Saturday, Feb. 23 for this auction, dining and dancing extravaganza. More details will be coming in the very near future. For more information contact Phil Sever at [email protected] or Lori Roberts at [email protected].

Winter Soccer: Winter activities will provide a minimum of twice a week training for all our athletes in the state of the art Grand Park Event Center. Managers and coaches will be communicating all details this week on times and days of the week. In addition to our traditional training, there are also some elective soccer events for those looking for more. You can see a full description below under " Winter Soccer."

Communication: The club is committed to working in an environment of continual improvement. Through town hall meetings, manager meetings, and providing all 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. A complete list of our staff contact information can always be found at https://www.indianafirejuniors.com/staff.

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. A complete list of our coaching staff is available at https://www.indianafirejuniors.com/coaches.

Looking forward to successful completion of Season 2!

Winter Soccer

We've had some emails from parents whose players are interested in continuing soccer this winter. We have a few programs that might work.

Lil Kickers at Pro X - IFJ is pleased to bring a soccer based youth development program for 2- to 5-year-olds to the Grand Park area. This program will be indoors at the new PRO X building going up next to the Grand Park Events Center. Sign up your 2- to 5-year-old today for Little Kickers at Pro X and Grand Park. More information at www.offthewallsports.net.

The Northside Futsal program has space for teams in the U8 to U14 age groups. Check with your IFJ coach to see if you're already in the league. If not, consider forming your own team with your son or daughter and some soccer-loving friends. Or, if you are looking for a team

that needs an extra player, send an email to [email protected].

Technek Soccer is also offering winter training for players who would like to work on their skills indoors over the winter months. You can find out more at [email protected].

Coming soon: Indoor soccer programs will be offered this winter at Sogility, a new facility in Westfield. You can find out more at sogility.net.

Concussion awareness

Anyone who watches the news has heard about concussions. Concussions may seem like the trendy diagnosis right now, but these brain injuries must be taken seriously. Unlike bruises, sprains or breaks that can be easily seen on an X-ray or other imaging scan, concussions can be sneaky. Adequate healing time is essential, especially in a young brain.

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Indiana Fire Juniors takes concussions very seriously. We work hand-in-hand with trainers from Methodist Sports Medicine to ensure that our athletes are examined thoroughly at the time of the injury and referred for appropriate treatment. We reached out to Nathan Hills, Director of Athletic Training Services for Methodist Sports Medicine at Grand Park, for more information on concussions.