“The standard is the standard.”

Those are famously the words of Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, but they very well could be the words of Peter Wilt, or Matt Poland, or AR Smith, or anyone else associated with Chicago House Athletic Club.

Chicago is gearing up for their upcoming U.S. Open Cup campaign, which kicks off Wednesday night as they host Minnesota United II in the first round of the tournament. It’s their second run in the competition in as many years, and they’re looking to go on a similar sort of fairytale run.

For now, though, it’s 10 am on a Tuesday, so practice is going on.

Keeping the feeling

House managing partner, president, and CEO Peter Wilt is on the top of a small press box overlooking training.

At first, this is a little concerning. I’ve seen others get up there before, but the box is usually closed, which means the only way you can get up it is by stepping on a fence and climbing up to the roof yourself.

How in the world did he get up there? Wilt is in good health, but he’s about 63 years old at this point, and he doesn’t seem like the kind of person who’d make that climb. What’s even more worrying is the issue of him getting back down.

Thankfully it turns out that the press box is opened up today, so getting to the roof is accomplished by simply going up a ladder. “Don’t fall back down the hole, though.”

“It's a fun time of year where you get to anticipate the season ahead. Everyone's optimistic and you haven't lost any games yet, so you're undefeated and hoping for the best,” said Wilt. “While it's not a satisfactory ending with the Open Cup, we now know what is ahead of us. When you don't know, it can be extremely frustrating and in some ways scary, but now we have that knowledge of the challenge and you can see we're out there working to face it.”

Wait, what unsatisfactory ending is he talking about? It’s time to address the elephant in the room.

Due to the endless greed of Major League Soccer and the cowardice of U.S. Soccer to enforce the rules, several MLS teams will be represented by their MLS Next Pro team in the Open Cup.

It’s obviously a low blow to such a historic tournament. The highlight of the House’s run in last year’s tournament was a meeting with the Chicago Fire, which no one ever thought was possible.

A rematch is impossible this year, and that’s why Chicago will be playing Minnesota United 2 in this round.

“I think I speak for a lot of people in the lower division world in American soccer when I say that we were bitter with how MLS treated this historic tournament, and didn't respect it. The opportunity we have to push back is on the field, not just for us, but for 31 other amateur teams,” said Wilt. “Anyone that loves the Open Cup tournament probably is unhappy with the lack of respect MLS showed to the tournament and will be rooting in their hearts for the non-MLS affiliated teams to do well.”

All this unnecessary drama can end up being a real distraction, but the House has seen weirder when it comes to this competition, so they’re not phased.

Head coach Matt Poland stands at midfield at the end of practice. He’s the last one on the training pitch, having sent away every last one of his players like a proud parent watching his children board the bus for school. He’s as calm and composed as ever.

“There's so many unexpected things with the Open Cup in general that I think our club has experienced. Not having lights and playing in the dark was a harder experience to deal with,” said head coach Matt Poland, referencing the famous win in the final round of qualifying for 2023’s tournament. “Honestly the adversity that our guys have gone through throughout the Open Cup in numerous different ways, whether that's flight delays, field quality, all of that, I think this fiasco is under the bridge. It doesn’t phase the guys who we would be playing or where we would be playing, they just kind of focus on themselves and let the other decisions outside of our control happen as they are.”

Poland wraps up in typically subdued fashion. “I’ve got other things to worry about.”

Despite the lack of MLS teams in the competition, Chicago still has a real tough test ahead of them. Minnesota United 2 is a professional outfit. They’ve got more resources when it comes to training and coaching, and their lineup is made up of players with plenty of talent, some with top-flight experience.

The flexibility of their roster adds another headache.

“This year with the format change, you just don't know what to expect. How many first team guys will be brought down? How many second team guys are there that we don't really know a lot about? I think every MLS Next Pro team will look different in regards to what type of players they put into the cup,” said Poland. “You just have to prepare with a lot of unknowns, and mainly focus on yourself and the team and making sure that our identity is the strongest it can be.”

The House is up for the challenge, though.

“It’s the same thing as always, there’s no nerves. If we didn't feel like we could win, we wouldn't play the game,” said House captain AR Smith. “We’re going to go in there with full confidence and try to play the best Chicago House soccer that we can and hopefully get the result that we want. You gotta do you.”

The message from him is consistent, and so are his interviews. I swear I’ve had the same interview with Smith over and over again. I dap him up at practice, I ask him how life has been, and then we have a quick chat about the club. It ends, we dap up again, and we carry on with our respective lives. Same again next time, captain.

Going again

Everyone knows about Chicago’s run in last year's competition.

It was huge for the club both on and off the field, and has gone a long way in laying the foundation for future success. The future is now, though, and while there may not be real pressure on the House to win, there’s a real hope that they can rekindle last year’s magic.

“I'm pleased to just get here. I want our ambitions to be higher than that, but I will say it's a mark of success just getting to the tournament proper again,” said Wilt. “That in mind, last year set a bar that our guys are aiming for, and achieving that sort of success again, even though we don’t need validation, would certainly validate last year's success. Doing anything a second time is always harder.”

A positive change from previous visits is that there isn't that much change. Usually Chicago goes through a bit of a roster overhaul when there’s a long gap between games, but that’s not really the case this time around.

“I think because of the excitement of qualifying for the Open Cup again and some of the off-field growth we've had in different areas, there hasn't been much change. I think a lot of the people, staff, players, and coaches are excited about the growth of the House, and are committed to being a part of it going to this next stage,” said Wilt. “Certainly the Open Cup is a big magnet for that, and once our time is done in the cup I’m sure there'll be some folks that will move on. In terms of the offseason, it's been remarkably stable. Even in the face of MLS trying to throw havoc into the one event we've been working towards, we've been able to stay focused.”

It’s certainly been a long off-season, as Chicago’s last game was over four months ago.

“It seems like a lot of the time with the Open Cup there are longer breaks between official games,” said Poland. “There are some new faces in here, so we’re just trying to get everybody on the same page, trying to get back into game fitness and build from where we were last year going into this year's Open Cup.”

Somebody say new faces?

The Eric Leonard section

“Wait, that's Eric Leonard.”

To my surprise, former Forward Madison and Chicago Fire II man Eric Leonard was training with the team the day I rocked up to practice. I am not a smart man, so I didn’t even recognize him at first, but Wilt was nice enough to inform me of his presence midway through our interview.

That’s a big deal. Leonard has loads of professional experience, especially with the aforementioned Forward Madison, where he holds the record for most appearances in club history. He’s also a local guy that everyone loves.

It took a while for me to chat with him, as he simply refused to keep doing cardio work after training. I thought a window was about to open, and then I’d see Leonard running off into the distance again. When I finally caught up to him I told him he could take a minute to gather his breath if need be, but he immediately shot back up and was ready to talk.

He’s been with the House for a bit, and he’s ready to officially see the field again on Wednesday night.

“I’m good, I’m doing well. I’m getting excited here for the Open Cup,” said Leonard. “I played against Minnesota United II last year with the Fire II, so I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a tough game, but I think the guys are up for it. People love underdog stories, and going into the cup, I’ve been there even with Forward Madison, it's something to look forward to.”

He’s happy to be here, and the House are happy to have him.

“Yeah, it's been great. Guys with professional experience that are still hungry to perform are great for the environment,” said Poland. “It shows the younger guys what they need to do and gives them something to aspire to be. The other nice thing is having guys that have played in the Open Cup before for professional teams. I think Leonard's last game in the cup was against Minnesota United's first team, so obviously having players with that experience is wonderful for us.”

Someone who’s especially happy to have Leonard around is Chicago captain AR Smith, as the two of them have played together before.

“I've known Lenny since he was 18, we went to Butler together. I've known him a very long time, and he’s been a friend of mine, a brother of mine since he started,” said Smith. “I was actually a part of his journey signing with Forward Madison, as far as him telling me how things are going and talks with his agents and things like that. I was proud of him to be able to get that done. So yeah, it's fun to have a brother around. He's from Chicago, so it’s nothing new for him.”

Leonard’s feelings for both of them were mutual.

“Being with Matt, it's awesome. He’s obviously one of my good friends, but when we step on the field we have a bit of a different relationship since he’s the head coach. I think he brings a lot of value,” said Leonard. “Not only is he a young coach, but he also has been able to learn from some of these veteran coaches and you see it in his philosophy. I mean, considering the coaching sessions for an amateur club, you're not going to get more professional than Chicago House.”

“AR is my guy. It's good to get back and connect with him on the field,” said Leonard. “I spent four years with him at Butler. It's good to see him, and he still has the same attacking prowess. It's fun to be around the guys.”

The House holds itself to a high standard. They practice early and often, and their path-to-pro program has seen several players earn contracts elsewhere as a result. Leonard joined the club because of its high standards, and now he’s here to help maintain them and push them even higher.

At one point during practice, there was a miscommunication during a training drill, and for a moment nobody did much of anything due to the confusion. A simple “What the f**k are we standing around for, boys!?!” from Leonard seemed to instantly kick everyone back into gear.

“I think I've tried to bring this culture to any club I've been at. You have a lot of young guys here, and there's a lot of potential for some of the boys as long as they keep their heads and their feet in the right spots, and they're continuously going forward,” said Leonard. “Matt, AR, Shannon (Seymour), and the guys have set a standard, which is why this is one of the only amateur teams that train every single day. It's not really common to find that at the amateur level, but like I said, these guys are trying to go professional. These guys are trying to get to the next level. I've done that, I've been there. So now what I can do is maybe help guide some of the younger boys and let them know things that can help them.”

Leonard’s future is a bit unclear, and it’s unknown how long he’ll be around following this contest. However, Chicago knows they’ll have someone they can trust on Wednesday.

Onwards and upwards

Fortunately for the House, last year’s lengthy run taught them a lot about the competition, and those lessons could be crucial this time around.

“I think the biggest thing is that you have to focus on yourself,” said Poland. “The game's 90 minutes or longer, and so it's about just staying present in each and every moment. The biggest thing is if you can keep the score low, you're always giving your team a chance no matter what happens.”

“I think the level of understanding on the field, I think that's what really drove us through the cup last year,” said Smith. “Being able to beat pros, the fact that we got guys that have been pros before or are capable of being pros now. I think we match that energy and we match that level of talent from last year, so I think we'll be okay going into the first game.”

It will be tough, but Chicago already knows that, and they’re more than ready to get things started.

“It will be very difficult, and the road is going to be more difficult. Playing a pro team in the first round is obviously more difficult than playing an amateur team in the first round, but these guys are going to be mentally prepared and they're working to be physically prepared as well,” said Wilt.

“It's an opportunity for us to play a professional side at home in front of our fans, so I think it's a great experience for our team and our fans to celebrate something like that,” said Poland. “Having that opportunity to play a professional team at home, regardless of who it is, should lead to a hundred percent motivation and focus and desire.”

“The only thing I'm going to say is that we are going to play our hardest and we are going to try and get this done,” said Smith.

Alright, let’s end on one last quote from Peter Wilt for the road.

“Just win baby.”

- Adnan Bašić