CHICAGO (Aug. 12, 2014) –The Chicago Fire Soccer Club and Quaker Oats will host the Second Annual Quaker Invitational Tournament on August 15-17, 2014. The tournament will feature more than 2,500 players from 168 teams from across six states. The Chicago Fire Juniors clubs and selected Chicago Fire youth affiliates will play at the Greater Libertyville Soccer Complex, located at 1860 W. Winchester Road in Libertyville.
“In just two years of organic development, the Quaker Invitational has established a reputation for being an incredible way for Fire Juniors teams and affiliated clubs to prepare for their upcoming seasons, to generate greater association with our Club and soccer communities from across the region, and to have fun,” said Chicago Fire Chief Operating Officer Atul Khosla. “We are thrilled to run this event alongside our partners at Quaker and plan for continued tournament growth ahead.”
The Quaker Invitational, approved by the Illinois Youth Soccer Association, will include more than 2,500 players from 168 teams from Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Kentucky and Iowa. Participating age groups include Under-8 through Under-14 for boys teams and Under-8 through Under-18 for girls teams.
“As a company that’s been nourishing healthy families for more than 135 years, we’re proud to team up with the Chicago Fire to host this invitational,” said Justin Lambeth, Chief Marketing Officer, Quaker Foods North America. “In addition to eating wholesome foods, physical activity can help round out a healthy lifestyle so we’re excited to enable so many aspiring soccer players to stay active.”
The activity on the pitch will be complemented with a full range of activities for players in Athletes Village. The lounge area will feature Xbox and Playstations with FIFA ‘14/’15, foosball tables, bag sets and Quaker product for players to relax between games. Athletes Village is supported by Fire partners Quaker, Adidas, Athletico, Eurosport, Gatorade and Wintrust.
The Chicago Fire Juniors is a first class professionally run organization that produces teams who consistently compete at the highest level and consistently develops players who play at the highest level. It is the only professionally-based youth soccer club in the United States and are the official youth soccer club of Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire. The Chicago Fire Juniors are part of the Chicago Fire (MLS) Player Development Program and are an integral piece of the Player Development Pyramid, which creates a progressive developmental structure providing players the opportunity to move from introductory play, competitive play and elite youth play into professional academy formats and professional development programs, and finally, onto the Fire MLS team. The Chicago Fire currently has eleven affiliate clubs in the Chicagoland area and throughout the United States.
Additional information on the Quaker Invitational can be found here or by contacting quakerinvitational@chicago-fire.com and (708) 496-6579.
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