Mid America Premier Ends Its Ride At The Top
Mid America Premier youth soccer dissolved over the summer but it ended its run on top.
GotSoccer, the international site which ranks teams from around the world, ranked Mid America 
Premier’s undefeated U10 team as number one in Illinois for the 2017-18 season, ahead of its rivals in Peoria and Chicago and the vaunted Scott Gallagher teams from St. Louis and southern Illinois.
The MAPS red squad was undefeated in its age group as well as the U11 age range, and scored tournament wins across the state and region, including wins in Elmhurst, Peoria, Morton, Muscatine, LeClaire, Wisc., Crystal Lake and others. MAPS frequently played up against U11 and U12 competition, and beat the top-ranked Scott Gallagher team in the U11 division.
The MAPS squad included Elijah DeLaCruz, Jackson Leary, Jonas Cortez, Lawson Zulu, Antonio Sepeda, Connor Wehr, Cooper Barnes, Sayden Williams, Adam Donaldson, Ruben Cruz, Santino Aguilar and Aydin Caras-O’Neal.
Coaches were Jason DeLaCruz and Sean Leary, team president was Jeff Barnes, team manager was Dave Wehr.
MAPS, one of the only independently run teams in the area, was dissolved over the summer due to the intense amount of work required to keep the team going and a lack of personnel able to handle the immense workload. All personnel were parents and unpaid volunteers, with monies generated by the club going to provide scholarships for players.
Most of the MAPS players have gone on to join the new Quad-Cities Rush squad, which is nationally affiliated with U.S. Soccer, the MLS and the Los Angeles Galaxy professional team.
