We had a family event here and it was so much fun! This is one of the largest spaces I've seen…read morethat houses indoor sports and they do nonprofit work in the community too. The goal of the organization is to inspire children through the power of sports. This is a large multi- sport campus on about 10 Acres in the North Austin Neighborhood of Chicago. They offer Indoor Soccer, Basketball, Volleyball and It's not just a league sports, it's more like a community sports complex and a youth development hub. There's non-sports programing too such as education, wellness classes and even e-sports and game design. Now here's the best part. Through the companies nonprofit they're dedicated to helping underprivileged children with low cost and even free sports programs. In their core mission no child should have to drop out of sports due to lack of finances. The facility is beautiful and it can be rented out for events, training and tournaments. It's a great concept. Every city needs something like this.

We've had such a great experience at Intentional Sports! The facility is amazing. Everything is…read moreclean, well-maintained, and such a great space for kids to train and play. You can tell a lot of thought has gone into creating a high-quality environment for young athletes. We've been really impressed and would absolutely recommend Intentional Sports to other families!

My seven year old son attended both LPBA's summer and fall camps and is currently attending their…read morewinter camp. Coaches Steve Borg and Steve Trout seem to have found just the right formula for rotating in different skill activities, taking into account the attentions spans of varying age levels, that keep kids interested and engaged. On most days I stay and watch and it is great to see how the kids really take to the instruction. My son has improved dramatically in his fundamentals and equally importantly he has taken a far greater interest in baseball thanks to his continued improvement and increase understanding of the game. It's an added bonus that he now asks to attend the camps and looks forward -- more than he ever has before -- to another year of league play.

Staff is not compliant with Chicago's COVID protocols. Despite the City & Park District dropping…read morethe mask requirement for all, the instructors are still forcing kids to wear masks in 90 degree weather.

We now have our 2-year-old second grand-daughter in this program, and like the first one, it is…read moregiving her a great start to fitness, athletics, and sportsmanship in her life.  The program is well run and organized, and with consistent, well-trained, youthful, friendly, and energetic instructors. The negative feedback from a couple older Yelp reviews for Lil' Kickers Northbrook are 5+ years old, and look outdated along with outdated website and corporate info as well (for which I have also submitted corrections).  I may also be an overly generous old-schooler though on the rating of any toddler sports program having myself come up through the self-taught youth program provided in the side streets and alleys of Chicago with pick-up games and no coaches or uniforms...  but probably not.  I do have a lot of personal experience with various formal youth sports programs in the upbringing of my own kids.    The current toddler program here is different from 2 years ago in that the current pandemic era one is conducted outdoors only and at nice Clarkson Park at 1950 New Willow Road in Northfield.  Currently, adults need to have a mask and it's one attending/participating adult only per child.  The older grand-daughter had her Lil' Kicker soccer class at their nice indoor Athletico Center facility at 1900 Old Willow Road in Northbrook.  The current class size is 4 so the kiddos get a lot of attention.  I think the older grand-daughter's class size was about 7 back in more normal times, and it can go up to 12, and it is still a good and fun learning environment. The price for their Thumpers' classes (2-3 years old) is $17.75 per 50 minute class with a $40 annual fee, and this includes a uniform.  It's more expensive than say a Park District program, but the attention and training is a lot more personal.  Recommended!

Some things are just better in the city & Lil' Kickers happens to be one of them. Back when we were…read morecity dwellers we signed my daughter up for Lil' Kickers* at Bradley Place. She had a blast running around "playing" soccer. And we loved getting pictures of her in her adorable uniform. The class was very consistent- same instructors every week and same exact activities so she always knew what was coming next, which (like all toddlers) made her feel comfortable. A few months ago I decided to check out this Lil Kickers in the burbs. I was bummed to hear they don't give you a uniform like they do in the burbs. If you want one you have to actually buy it, but fortunately ours still fit from the city days. My husband went to the majority of the classes and said he wasn't nearly as impressed. There seemed to be a different instructor each week, there wasn't much structure and the class wasn't able to keep my daughter's attention for very long. When I finally took her to class I had to agree with all my husband's sentiments. There's not much organization here. In fact, when my stepdad took my daughter last weekend she insisted that she was in a different class than she actually is...and no one seemed to notice there that she was in the wrong class of much older kids. It definitely is a good option if you want your kid to run around for 45 minutes (especially in the winter) and for that reason I won't be opposed to giving Lil' Kickers another shot with my son when he's old enough. However, they could definitely use a few organizational tips from their city sister. * http://www.hifivesportsclubs.com/wordpress/northshore_18_months_k/northshore_lil_kickers/

This is an absolutely outstanding soccer club.  The coaching is incredibly high level and the…read moreenvironment is very supportive allowing each player to reach their greatest potential.  There is both the knowledge and the passion to develop each player as an individual. My son is very passionate about soccer and has enjoyed every single day of training here.  We would never consider another club.

My 6 years old son just started and he loves it! First time ever for him in the field and he had a…read moreblast so far. Highly recommended to all parents that want their son/daughter to be part of a such a professional program, with dedicated coaches and staff members who are willing to go extra mile to develop each individual player.

The Park Ridge Hawks are THE premier youth football program, hands down!…read more We have been part of the Park Ridge Hawks since its inception, when our team made it to the Pop Warner Championship tournament in Orlando, Florida. At first, we were apprehensive to let our two sons play tackle football. But we quickly realized how much attention to quality and safety the program emphasizes to ensure player development is optimized at every level. The coaching is top-notch. The practices are extremely well run. Communication and team organization are second to none. There is a focus on not just creating a winning program, but on raising young kids to work on lifelong qualities such as teamwork, integrity, and grit. The competition is excellent - we've played teams across Illinois, Indiana, and Florida - which has allowed our boys to push themselves, raise the bar, and improve their skills. You only become the best if you play the best! All in all, I highly recommend this program. The return on investment is just too good to pass up.

Wow! What an outstanding program and assembly of the best managers and coaches I've ever seen. My…read moredaughter has played for 3 different travel teams since she was in 4th grade and Flow is by far the best well rounded program that we've seen. Margaret is the program director, she sends frequent emails on scheduling and is very easy to contact with questions or concerns. Communication is very well organized at flow and if you've ever been on a team where communication is a problem, then you will really appreciate this as we did. Kori is a former WNBA player and Coach! When the girls practice she plays with the girls, and shows the girls exactly how she wants the girls to do the exercise. Kori is an amazing sight to see, dribbling through the legs, around the back, spinning, fade away shots, no look passes etc etc. When the young girls get to see this in person it creates a whole different atmosphere. It would be like if Michael Jordan started a kid basketball program and also played with the kids. I know that is a strong reference, but after you see Kori run a practice, you will know what I mean. The passion and attitude that she passes on to the girls is truly a unique experience. Kori spent 10+ years as a coach or player in the highest level of competition in the WNBA and Division 1 college basketball, so you know that the drills being run and the daily practice plan are far far above any other program. Kathy is a true fundamental technician of basketball. She once spent 90 minutes straight with my daughter having her perfect her shot. Every week she'd give my daughter a drill to do at home and my daughter does it! She also offers a kind of 'tough love' to the kids, she pushes them but she knows how far to push them without pushing them off the cliff. And she always follows it up with positive criticism in a way that empowers the girls. Truly a fantastic coach that genuinely cares about her players. The assembly of these coaches all in one program is something I've never seen. When practice is over you can see the smiles and empowered confidence of the girls as they walk out of the gym. Another truly unique aspect is that after each tournament, the coach sends an email with a paragraph about each players performance- what they need to work on, what they did good, what the coach would like to see more out of them. My daughter never had a coach that did this before and its just another tool that Flow uses to engage the kids and boost their confidence. Another amazing aspect is that there are girls of all different talents in the program. There are certainly girls that have a high level of talent but there are also girls that have a lot of room for improvement. I've watched these beginner players evolve into strong and confident basketball players at such an accelerated rate. It's because of the coaches and drills and the overall direction and leadership of the program. Very impressive. I honestly was going to wait to put my review of Flow in until after my daughter got into high school, selfishly because I was worried about more people discovering this hidden gem of a program. But I just can't withhold it any longer out of good conscience.

We had participated on two other travel teams before coming to Flow Basketball. For various reasons…read morethe other teams were not what we were looking for: a disciplined approach to skill development and improvement in a competitive and fun basketball environment. That was four years ago and our daughter continues to enjoy playing this sport under the guidance of Coach Hlede. Goals are discussed at the beginning of the season. Practices are challenging and well organized and Korie is very open to working one on one in a particular area with the players to ensure they improve their moves. Another plus is that the gyms we use are closer to home thus making the commute easier for our busy family.

This place deserves a whole hearted 5-stars, but because the aquatics management at UIC is not fit…read moreto their jobs much of the time I demote to a 4-star rating. This is the story... I swam at a Division 1 level for 4-years of college and upon graduating I needed to find a place to try to remain active. Swimming alone is the most mind numbing and painfully boring activity in the world... so I knew that I would need a team and a coach to keep me motivated and having fun. I was 100% correct in this statement. I first joined Chicago Blue Dolphins (read my review of them elsewhere) and liked it... then it got old, and terrible, and mismanaged, and over priced, and and and... I will let you read the rest on my review of them. So when it came time to switch, a number of my friends and I made our way to Chicago Masters. I heard they were coached by the UIC coach (Paul Moniak) and they had a great team- that had a passion for swimming. Paul has an old-school methodology to his training habits that prove successful for his collegiate and masters swimmers alike time and time again. He is a great coach and is always willing to help with your stroke and swimming fitness needs. There are PLENTY of workout options, and the team trains long course much of the year- which is AWESOME. There is a large variance of skill levels from pre collegiates going for masters world records to 1-step away from aqua joggers. Ages range from lower 20's to infinity... so you will find someone in your skill and age range. The team is just as social as serious having breakfast outings after morning workouts occasionally, picnics on the beach, and other fun activities... Why you would not like it and I demote it to 4-stars. (1) WAY TOO MANY people wear equipment for the duration of a workout. Sure I wear paddles now and again, but fins the whole workout is so beyond appropriate swimming etiquette that it blows my mind. (2) You want a LOT of fine tuning to your stroke. This is a swimming team- we do mostly training. There is some drill work involved, but there is not going to be someone holding your hand through learning how to breath or finish your first triathlon swim. YES- there are options for private lessons (and I encourage those, because I love the though of anyone getting into my sport) but workouts are more training focused than skills. (3) The worst of all... the pool maintenance is poor. Its always clean enough, and the lane lines are in- the stuff you need to swim. But the water temperature is sometimes so impossibly hot that normal swimming is not possible. It seems that the staff that regulates it doesn't understand what good competition and training temps are. So in all- look past a few flaws that keep this from the perfect aquatic experience, but I can confidently say you wont find a better training program in the city. We have multiple masters world record holders, consistently send people to state and nationals... and Paul is easily one of the most underrated coaches around.

Our girls started last month and they absolutely love it…read more My 5 year is old is very shy but somehow Coach John has lifted her confidence and now she is a tumbling nugget. Their location was very hard to find but other than that everything has been amazing. Parking is a breeze. They have a parking garage right outside their gym. I appreciate their Covid-19 safety protocols. We feel very safe when our girls participate. I definitely recommend Coach John and Cheer Destiny!

My daughter has been part of the Cheer Destiny program for 3 years now, and we couldn't be happier…read more She started with quad season cheer, and this is our second year doing half season, along with private tumbling lessons. The coaches are extremely skilled, patient, and so kind with the kids. The staff is always friendly and welcoming, and the environment is positive and supportive. Cheer Destiny has helped my daughter grow so much in confidence and ability. Highly recommend to anyone looking for an amazing cheer program!