Roster boosted to 15 by signing two of the Big Ten's better seniors, giving proof of growing Academy-NCAA-first team pipeline
The Chicago Fire's rebuild for 2016 began its much-less-depressing building phase (taking over for the 'teardown') with the signing of academy products Joey Calistri and Drew Conner to Homegrown contracts. Terms, as is usual in a league obsessed with opacity, were not released. The signings are the 7th- and 8th-ever Homegrown players for the Fire.
There could be no disputing the Fire pedigree of the two Big Ten team captains. Calistri played on Fire Academy sides since 2010, and with the Fire's PDL team - coached by (now former) academy director Larry Sunderland - each of the previous four summers.