Olé Football Academy Graduate, Elliot Collier signed his first professional contract for Chicago Fire of the MLS earlier this week. Collier was originally drafted by the Fire with the 49th pick of the 2018 MLS SuperDraft.
Collier first joined Olé in 2013 where he believes he “learnt more about the game of football in the time I spent at Olé than I had my whole life. I was surrounded by players and coaches that truly cared about getting better and all the small details that are required to play at the next level.” He added, “My game was able to develop from just getting the ball trying to dribble the team to playing through combination and finding space without the ball.”
Collier’s height is something that many people may look at and question his athletic prowess, however he is not the type of player you may think he is. “Elliot has a unique combination of size, speed, agility and physicality. He is really tall and agile for someone his size and able to beat players on the dribble and with tight combination play.” said Olé Academy CEO, Ben Sippola.
Using his size and skills throughout his career, it led him to scoring 15 goals and assisting 11 in his 69 appearances during his four year Student Athlete career at Loyola University, Chicago.
Not only will Chicago be gaining a talented footballer, Collier’s personality has paved the way for him within the different environments he has been in. “I always remember Elliot smiling and connecting with his teammates. He had great values on the pitch and off the pitch regarding his work ethic and humility.” Sippola said.
The Chicago Fire begin their 2018 campaign on March 10th when they host Sporting Kansas City at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill. This will be the first opportunity for Elliot to be selected in the match day squad after appearing for the team in their pre-season games.
