Carmel United Soccer Club, according to Carmel United president Ken Yerkes, is planning to merge with the Westfield Youth Soccer Association to form the Indiana Fire Juniors in affiliation with the major league team Chicago Fire. Yerkes said the Indiana Fire Juniors will look to the Chicago Fire for technical administration, but the day-to-day management will be in the hands of the people from the two existing clubs. The resulting organization, Yerkes said, will be composed of over 2,600 players and create the most comprehensive soccer club in the country.

Yerkes said he believes that despite potential challenges in combining the two clubs, the merger will be beneficial to the student-athletes.

“We think it’s going to have a really positive effect on student-athletes,” Yerkes said. “Our player pyramid will go from the recreational level on the bottom of the pyramid, all the way up to the semi-professional level at the top of the pyramid. Thus, we think student-athletes will be able to participate in a way that will allow them to develop with the best coaching and against the best competition. This way, each participant will reach his or her desired level of soccer development.”

According to Yerkes, he is not alone in his support of the merger because the Board of Directors and Operating Committee of Carmel United have unanimously voted in favor of the merger.

“The other club members have reacted very positively to the merger,” Yerkes said. “We really appreciate this tremendous support from players, family and administration.”

However, sophomore Laura Lentz, who has participated in Carmel United soccer for six years, said she sees a different reaction to the merger.

“People don’t seem very happy,” Lentz said. “We’ve been Carmel United for a long time, and we’ve earned a few national titles to our name, so people don’t want to lose that. I haven’t heard anything super enthusiastic.”

Despite the reaction that she has noticed from other players, Lentz said she agrees with Yerkes that the merger will benefit players.

“I think the merger will benefit player development because we’ll still have the good coaches coming from Carmel and from the other club as well,” Lentz said. “Since having good coaches is necessary for player development, these new coaches should help us grow as players. I also think the merger will help bring in new players, which will give us better talent to play with and against. Also, it’ll give us better access to fields. All in all, I see a lot of benefits in the merger and I’m optimistic that this is the best choice for Carmel United to make.”