Mar 5, 2021
Our
Youth Soccer Discussion continues today with a very unique
perspective from Curt Lewis, who currently coaches at Prairie
Soccer Club, Cedar Rapids Prairie High School and for Iowa ODP.
Curt grew up in West Des Moines playing for Valley High School and
the West Des Moines Soccer Club, eventually going on to play at Mt.
St. Claire in Clinton in addition to spending time with the Des
Moines Menace and the Colorado Stampede of the USISL. So not only
has Curt been a part of the Iowa soccer scene as a coach and
player, but it has come full circle for him as his son Mateus is a
talented player that has gone on to play in college.
This
past summer of 2020, in the relatively new pandemic era, a
contingent of youth soccer clubs in Iowa proposed a new league with
the Iowa Soccer Association called the Club Development League
(CDL). Episode 85 of the podcast tried to provide a neutral
overview of of the differences between the CDL and the previously
all-encompassing Iowa Soccer League (ISL). Episode 89 goes in depth
into the history of how this situation came about, and provides a
good perspective from the leader of an ISL club. Episode 90 reviews
the standards of the different leagues and provides some solutions
to potentially keep the ISL and CDL together under the ISA
umbrella. Today's episode is wide-ranging and provides a
perspective that few have on the ISL, CDL and player development in
the state of Iowa.