Chicago Fire Soccer Club announced Friday that the travel component of the Plainfield Soccer Association Legends will become an affiliate of the Chicago Fire Soccer Club and will be known as the Chicago Fire Juniors West.

The new Chicago Fire Juniors West is one of nine clubs in the Chicago Fire Juniors family, the fourth in the Chicagoland area and the third in the state of Illinois. Since 2008, the Fire's youth development program has grown from 400 participants to more than 10,000 across seven states.

"The creation of Chicago Fire Juniors West provides local youth soccer players the opportunity to grow and develop under the banner of their hometown club," said Chicago Fire Vice President of Soccer Operations Guillermo Petrei. "A partnership with a community-oriented club such as PSA gives more young players in the Chicagoland area access to a professional environment while providing opportunities to join our Academy and first team similar to the Juniors programs across the nation."