“It's a lot of lights at the end of the tunnel and sometimes it's oncoming train, but we're making the best of it.”

The last the majority of the American world saw of Chicago House was the very public implosion of club owner Laurence Girard. Girard spent several weeks on social media burning every bridge to NISA he could get a torch to. There were claims of financial promises broken on the part of the league, vigorous attacks on the league commissioner, John Prutch, and a host of somewhat baffling posts that left us all confused. Of course, there was a few hundred dollars worth of free pizza. Can’t forget that part. And just like that, the league voted Chicago House and New Amsterdam FC out. Some might have thought the Chicago club was dead and they would be wrong.

With the professional avenue closed to the club, Peter Wilt and company did what every shrinking company does, slash budget and find a way forward. For Chicago House, that made moving into the Midwest Premier League the right one. Peter Wilt, co-owner of the club, highlighted the regional league as a big part of the club’s NISA exit plan. “Obviously playing in a regional amateur league is much much less expensive than playing in the national professional league and, secondly, it kept us in competition and kept the team going forward: playing competitive games, having players, having limited staff wage, including myself for most of this. Which is difficult, but it’s necessary to bridge the gap from past professional to future professional, which is still our aspiration.”

Wilt praises the league leadership of the league. “The organization overall is a very good experience and really impressed me with the leadership and professionalism. Midwest Premier League board President John Hall and commissioner, Andy Hayes, did a terrific job of maintaining standards. Obviously standards are different than in a pro league, but what I think is important is that the norms that are set are maintained and I was really impressed with that experience.”

The season was a mixed one for Chicago House, which finished the year 4th in the West Standings with a 5-5-1 record. But lest you think that the MWPL is a low level amateur league, consider the teams playing in House’s conference. Milwaukee Bavarians, RWB Adria, and Iowa Raptors finished ahead the Chicago club in regular season play. The MWPL is a stacked regional, one of the best in the country, House could have picked much easier fields to plow. Instead it chose one of the better amateur leagues, period.

But the move to MWPL is, as Peter mentioned earlier, just a step in the path back to professional. “Yeah, we have a general plan. It is to likely play in a national amateur league next year, such as the NPSL or UPSL, and then also hopefully retain a team in Midwest Premier League…We'd like to be back in a lower-tier, professional league with our first team. And I think it's too soon right now to say which league that would be, because it's two years from now and the volatility of lower-division soccer in America, obviously precludes them from knowing for certain what those options are going to be. We certainly continue to believe in an open system with promotion and relegation. So our preference and focus is to be in an independent open system that supports promotion and relegation and no territorial exclusivity.”

Short term the team plans to play friendlies and attempt to qualify for the US Open Cup, but has no plans for league play in the fall. Chicago House got a bye in the first round of USOC qualifying.

- Dan Vaughn