Henlopen Soccer Club becomes Delmarva Rush

Henlopen Soccer Club has joined the world’s largest soccer club, Rush Soccer, providing local players with opportunities to develop and compete against some of the best in the country.

Club officials will make a formal announcement to parents and players at 9:30 a.m., Saturday, April 15, at Sandhill Fields in Georgetown. 

Rush Soccer has more than 110 affiliated clubs around the world. It also provides resources to players and coaches, from online training sessions to more competitive playing opportunities, along with a pathway program designed to place players in college through increased exposure to coaches, tutoring for the SATs and ACTs, and help with highlight videos. 

Nearly 100 athletes who played with Rush Soccer have reached the professional ranks, including several members of the men’s and women’s U.S. National Teams. 

Prior to making any decisions on the club’s future, board President Chris Nichols said parents were surveyed about their wants and needs. 

“Youth sports parents are a lot more sophisticated these days,” Nichols said. “They’re looking for pathways, curriculum, areas of growth, playing opportunities outside of Georgetown and the local area.”

To grow the program to meet expectations of parents and players, the club hired Nick Vitale as director of coaching. In previous positions in Pennsylvania and Arizona, Vitale worked with Rush Soccer. He encouraged Henlopen Soccer Club to consider affiliation with Rush Soccer because its resources and opportunities for players, coaches and families are unmatched by any other organization in the country. 

“We looked at countless other options, and we finally went and met with the folks at Rush in Philadelphia at the National Coaches Convention,” Nichols said. 

A contingent then traveled to Manhattan to meet again with Rush Soccer representatives. 

“Basically what they give you as a club is a curriculum for training,” Nichols said. “They give us tools for the training, like online videos. They give us coaching training and licensing. They give us the ability to train with other people within the Rush organization. [They give] players the opportunity to play here or with other Rush organizations. They also put on a number of national events.” 

The players from every local team over age 12 will be put on a Select team, Nichols said. They’ll go to Florida to train with Select kids from all around the country, and they’ll get put on teams and compete in tournaments. From that group, some players will be chosen for national Rush teams; those teams will play both nationally and internationally. 

Nichols said this is a tremendous opportunity for youth soccer in Delaware.

“All the clubs in Delaware can only take you so far; then you have to start long drives,” he said. “It really will enable the youth here to go further in soccer without having to travel.”

Nichols said Rush Soccer is a partner. This is not a pay-to-play kind of thing, he said. 

“We are absolutely committed to remaining the community soccer club for this area,” he said. “We are the largest youth sports organization south of the canal all the way to Virginia Beach.”

The local club will still continue to operate spring and fall recreational leagues. Those leagues will operate under the name Henlopen Rush. 

Nichols said the club averages about 700 kids each rec season, with about 1,400 total in a typical year.

On the travel ball side, the club has about 250 players. Nichols said the club can draw from a larger area for travel players. 

“There are parents who are driving across the [Bay] Bridge,” he said. “Even for those in Salisbury, they can be here in 45 minutes.” 

Due to its central location, he said, the club can pull in players from Smyrna to the Virginia state line and west to the Chesapeake Bay. 

“There are some parents that drive from Ocean City to Wilmington or Philadelphia three nights a week,” Nichols said. 

One of the biggest benefits for Vitale is the access higher-level players have to stronger competition. He said the Rush Soccer affiliation allows a player who’s talented enough to play in MLS Next or the Elite Clubs National League to continue to train locally. 

“What Rush is trying to do is save you on that travel,” said Vitale, who is now technical director for the club. “Traveling two, three, four times a week will burn kids out, and I know it has.” 

It also taps players into a worldwide network, where they can easily jump onto another Rush squad if there’s a spot available for an upcoming match or tournament. If a player has a desire to play for a particular college, Vitale said, they can play with a Rush squad near that school so the coach doesn’t have to travel to watch. 

College coaches also place high value on Rush Soccer for recruiting. 

“Why would he go to a local club that has 1,000 kids when he can go to Rush head office and he’s hitting 45,000 to 50,000 kids,” Vitale said. “That’s the beauty of Rush.” 

Select team tryouts for Delmarva Rush are set for early May. The first session will be 5:30 to 6:45 p.m., Wednesday, May 3, for players born 2012-16, and from 7 to 8:15 p.m. for players born 2005-13. The second session will be Saturday, May 6, from noon to 1:15 p.m. for players born 2012-16, and from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. for players born 2013-14. The final tryout is set for Monday, May 8, from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. for players born 2012-16, and 7 to 8:15 p.m. for players born 2005-13. All tryouts will be held at Sandhill Fields in Georgetown.

To learn more about Delmarva Rush and Henlopen Rush, go to delmarvarush.com. For more information about Rush Soccer, go to rushsoccer.com.