U23 Training

The Central Illinois Soccer Academy in collaboration with Peoria City of USL 2 announces the establishment of a U-23 Training Program:

Wednesday, April 17, 5:00pm
Louisville Slugger Complex
8400 N. Orange Prairie Road
Peoria IL. 61615
www.sluggerpeoria.com/the-complex

Wednesday, April 24, 5:30pm
Louisville Slugger Complex
8400 N. Orange Prairie Road
Peoria IL. 61615
www.sluggerpeoria.com/the-complex

Sunday May 5, 4:30pm
Eureka College
300 E College Ave
Eureka, IL 61530

Contact Ryan Woodside, Eureka College Head Coach, via email rwoodside@eureka.edu or phone (309) 532-2057.

CISA accepts payment via credit card (VISA, Discover, or Master Card) during online registration. Payment is also accepted via cash or personal check to be paid on the above due date. Contact Ryan Woodside, Eureka College Head Coach, via email rwoodside@eureka.edu or phone (309) 532-2057 if you have questions about payment.

U23 Training FAQ

U-23 Training is open to any and all entrants, in accordance with the NCAA camps and clinic legislation (limited only by number, age, grade level and/or gender).

Contact Ryan Woodside, Eureka College Head Coach, via email rwoodside@eureka.edu or phone (309) 532-2057.

This unique training environment is geared towards providing current or aspiring college aged players a platform to train weekly and play in competitive scrimmages and exhibitions while still maintaining their status on any current club team they are playing.

Players that will be entering their Junior Year of High School regardless of age, through the age of 23 prior to December 31, 2024. There will be a small pool of over age spots available depending on isolated circumstances.

Players will be evaluated and observed and if selected offered a training spot through a series of open and invitation tryouts, evaluation by the staff within their current club/college program either in-person or through video, or upon recommendation of selected coaching staff members in collaboration with the CISA U23 and Peoria City USL League Two technical staffs.

The group will train 2-3 times per week between May 1-July 15 at locations in the Peoria area. A minimum of 1 training session per week will coincide with Peoria City players and their respective coaching staff. The other training sessions will be held at the discretion of the coaching staff. Selected participants can continue to play full time with any current club team they are registered with as this is a training group.

Yes. The training group currently has 6 scrimmage opportunities. Four scrimmages vs Peoria City and two vs outside opponents with a potential of additional matches depending on roster size and player availability. Matches will be added as needed; however, it is important to note that the benefit of the U23 Training Program will be a 9v9 to 11v11 playing environment at each training session and its relationship with Peoria City.

Ryan Woodside, Eureka College Head Coach, and Assistant Coach for Peoria City will serve as the Training Program Director. In addition, other coaches that will assist at daily practices and scrimmages include Mike Paye, Head Coach of Peoria City and Clarke University, Retired Head Bradley University Men’s Soccer Coach Jim DeRose, and Senior age Peoria City USL League Two players that are interested in pursuing careers in coaching domestically and abroad. There will be more announcements closer to the season with the addition of other staff and guest coaches throughout the Summer.

Yes. While players will not be rostered with Peoria City of USL League Two, the affiliation and collaboration between the clubs will allow CISA U23 training players to be evaluated by the current staff. Through those training sessions and scrimmages, players would have the ability to be offered either a regular training spot or a fully rostered position for Peoria City at any time. Players would have to meet all USL League Two registration criteria and respective high school and collegiate eligibility rules.

The cost for the program is $250 for players that have graduated high school and $290 for those currently in high school. All players must carry their own health care insurance, or have parent dependent health care insurance, and provide all current plan information prior to participation.

Contact Ryan Woodside, Eureka College Head Coach, via email rwoodside@eureka.edu or phone (309) 532-2057.

U23 Training Staff

Ryan Woodside

U-23 Training Program Director,
Eureka College Head Coach and Assistant Coach for Peoria City USL 2

Ryan Woodside was named the fifth Eureka College men’s soccer head coach on March 4, 2022.

In his first season at the helm, Woodside guided the Red Devils qualified for the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament for the first time in program history and came a couple of breaks away from marching into the SLIAC semifinals, falling just shy in penalty kicks.

At season’s end, striker Khalil Alleyne was selected to the All-SLIAC Second Team, and midfielder Jake Edmondson and center back Isaac Noriega were named to the All-SLIAC Third Team. It was Eureka’s first time earning All-SLIAC honors since 2018, and the first time the program has had three honorees since 2015.

A Bloomington native, Woodside came back to central Illinois after previously serving as an assistant coach at NCAA Division III Hope College in Holland, Michigan. There, he developed training programs to improve player performance, helped build a unique team culture, contributed to strategizing and training and assisted with running summer soccer camps and ID camps.

In 2021, Hope went 11-4-3 on the season and had four players receive All-Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association honors. Woodside was named interim head coach at Hope after head coach Dave Brandt departed for Division I Bucknell.

Woodside’s experience in coaching soccer was preceded by a notable playing career. A 2015 Normal Community High School graduate, Woodside was a three-year varsity player and a First Team All-Big Twelve selection, helping the Ironmen take state runner-up in Class 3A as a senior. He also played club soccer for the Central Illinois Rowdies. After graduating from Hope with a bachelor’s degree in biology and English in 2019, Woodside played a season of low-level professional soccer in Sweden. His team, Stöde IF, won the Swedish Division III Mellersta Norrland title and earned promotion.

He has also played high-level amateur soccer for the Muskegon Risers in the Major Arena Soccer League II, and in 2021, he had the unique experience of helping launch a semi-professional club in Grand Rapids, Michigan, called the West Michigan Bearings. Woodside played for and ran the club in its first season in the Midwest Premier League in 2021.