A partnership between the Heritage YMCA and the Chicago Fire pro soccer team gives youth coaches some professional help and young players some professional cheering.
“This is a huge shot in the arm for our soccer program,” said Scott Taylor, sports director for Heritage. “I look for our numbers in our soccer program to really go up.”
The Chicago Fire is pledging support for many Heritage soccer programs, similar to the team’s existing agreements with several YMCA centers in Chicago.
Chicago Fire staff will help with coaches’ clinics this winter. Staff and players will also teach at Heritage soccer camps.
The team mascot, Sparky, will show up from time to time at indoor and outdoor league games.
“This promises to be an ongoing process, extending beyond their playing games in Naperville at North Central College,” Taylor said.
Still in the works is support for new outdoor soccer fields at the Aurora Center YMCA, near downtown Aurora.
Though no plans have been formally announced, Donald Ortale, the Fire’s director of community relations, said a proposal is on the table involving the FireWorks for Kids Foundation. The team’s charitable arm would recruit private and public donors to participate in constructing the fields.
“The Chicago Fire wants to expand on the YMCA partnership, if possible,” Ortale said. “Our hope is that signing this business partnership will set the stage for future enhancements.”
