Wisconsin Soccer Central

Wisconsin players will be part of a new division of the U.S. Youth Soccer Midwest Regional League, playing against teams from or affiliated with Major League Soccer clubs Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew.

The Pro Youth Clubs Affiliates Division will include teams from eight clubs and a new Wisconsin player development entity that will be selected by and associated with the Fire, the MRL announced last week.

Only teams from MLS clubs and their affiliate clubs are allowed to play in the league, which will operate outside the MRL's three-tier setup. The competition will include boys and girls teams from Under-12 through Under-18, and there will be fall and spring showcase events in addition to league play.

Jim Launder, the director of coaching for the Wisconsin Youth Soccer Association, said that the current plan is to have tryouts for the still-unnamed state teams affiliated with the Fire. Players from approximately 12 Wisconsin clubs would be eligible for the tryouts, as well as players who are part of the Wisconsin Olympic Development Program.

Launder declined to name the participating clubs, saying that the list has changed throughout the discussions and shouldn't be made public until it is finalized. However, he did say that some of the clubs are members of WYSA's Wisconsin Development Academy and some are not.

"From my standpoint, I think they want to get the best (players) together, but we want to be inclusive in doing it," he said.

Coaches will be selected from the participating clubs, which also will play host to the respective training sessions and matches. Asked about the cost to participate on the teams, Launder said "there might be some cost, but not much.

"I think the goal is that more kids get to play more good games with more good coaching, and compressing the best players together usually is a good method for doing that," he said.

League play for boys and girls Under-12 through Under-14 teams will be scheduled in both fall and spring, while Under-15 to Under-18 boys will play in the spring and Under-15 to Under-18 girls will play in the fall.

Launder said that the Fire will send coaches to Wisconsin for evaluation periods in addition to selected training sessions and matches, and could potentially invite state players to join one of their youth teams.

The move represents a new strategy by the MLS club, which has nine affiliate clubs across the country.

"What the Fire has done in the past is they've said, 'OK, we're going to go after this one club or this other club.' And now they said, 'We want to open this up to a lot of clubs,' and they felt this was a way they could do that," Launder said.

Midwest Regional League
Pro Youth Clubs Affiliates Division 2013-14
Columbus Crew Youth
Grand Rapids Crew Juniors (Mich.)
Challenger Crew Juniors (Ohio)
Chicago Fire Academy
Chicago Fire Juniors United
Carmel/Indiana Fire Academy
Michigan Fire Juniors
Kentucky Fire Juniors
Wisconsin team affiliated with Fire (name to be announced)