Fresh Look To Windy City Power League as 2019 Club Season Approaches
As fresh as the breeze off Lake Michigan, the Windy City Power League is ready to kick off the 2019 club season with a record number of teams and a new format to benefit athletes from all clubs as well as college coaches who come to Chicagoland to recruit some of the top talent in the nation.
The idea and work behind the rejuvenated league stems from clubs within the region coming together to meet the needs of the athletes and families within their clubs as well as the college coaches who will be coming to scout. Teams from Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana will be playing in facilities throughout Chicagoland four to five times from January to April with the winners of the Open Division earning a National bid to USAV Nationals in Indianapolis, while the winners of the Club Division will earn an American bid.
Joel Anderson, Club Director at Chicago Elite and a Director of the Windy City Power League, said this vision started in the summer of 2018 with the idea of the making this better for the entire Great Lakes Region.
“We wanted to support each other as clubs with the idea that everyone succeeds. We’ve had a group of nine directors meeting about every other week discussing what this will look like for the 2019 club season,” said Anderson.
In this group was Chicago Elite, Fusion, Sky High, 1st Alliance, Epic, Celtic Force, UNO, Net Force, and Evolution. The WCPL has also set up criteria of what it takes in order to be a host. Besides having criteria of being able to host, they will also pair up age and divisions with two clubs within close proximity for each other to partner for the weekend. For example, 1st Alliance and Celtic Force will partner for a weekend due to proximity in the Southeast part of Chicagoland which will make it easier for teams when it comes to travel and hotels.
The Chicagoland area is a desirable location for college coaches from all divisions across the country to come and recruit for the weekend. All Open level competition will be played on the same weekend. For coaches coming to visit their commits at the 17s and 18s level they will also be able to scout new talent in the up and coming age divisions as well. For the Division 1 coaches, they will be able to evaluate at the Windy City Power League three times during the “live” period which has slightly changed for the 2019 calendar year, shortening up the time the coaches at the D1 level can evaluate. The weekends of February 23-24, March 13-14, and April 13-14 will be during the live period for Division 1 coaches.
As for how teams are going to be grouped, there will be a little bit of a difference between the Club and Open levels. Once again, taking the input of those who will be involved, this was the best solution as a result of working together between the directors. At the open level teams will be in bracket play with teams moving up or down a bracket depending on the result of their finish in the bracket. At the Club level, teams will be in 16 team pools, moving pools depending on their result.
As of November 28, the Windy City Power League has 575 teams from 64 clubs. A major increase from 2018 when the league had 374 teams. Teams will be starting play the weekend of January 12 and 13th.
AES: https://www.advancedeventsystems.com/events/16248/divisions
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Prep Dig Gauntlet:
Showcase on May 31, Tournament June 1 and 2
Tournament Page: https://prepdig.com/2019/06/prep-dig-gauntlet-14s-15-club-15-open-all-tournament-team/
AES Link: https://www.advancedeventsystems.com/events/16753/divisions