History
JaHbat FC was founded in 1996 by Kevin Francis, Franz Calixte and Jean Gregoire to address the need for a top flight men's Pro-Am soccer team in the Evanston area. The Chicagoland area has always had a rich history of semi professional soccer, but the Evanston community was never well represented. Thus, JaHbat FC was created to fill the void. JaHbat is an acronym which represents the cultural backgrounds of each of the club’s first players; Jamaica, Americas, Haiti, Belize, Asia/Africa, and Trinidad. JaHbat began as a men’s semi-professional team. During that time our players developed the level of skills that allowed them to pursue professional careers in The Canada Soccer League, The Danish Super Liga, England’s Coca-Cola League 2, and traveled with Nike’s various street soccer campaigns. In 2010, Kevin Francis, the president of JaHbat, shifted the club’s focus and added a high school program for boys and girls. By 2013 the U18 boys won the NISL State Championship and 16 players from that team went on to play college soccer, ranging from NCAA division 1, NAIA division 2, and NCAA division 3. In the fall of 2013, he expanded the club to include a full youth soccer program ranging from U7 through U19.
Present
We are a growing club, providing the opportunity to train and compete at the highest level for youth soccer, ages 6-19 years old. JaHbat FC not only includes Evanston, but has expanded to additional locations, including South Naperville/Plainfield area, Mount Prospect, as well as Gurnee, since the merger with Inter-Gurnee Premier FC in 2020. JaHbat currently has over 20 teams and growing, as well as over 300 players. This includes a “Likkle Pros” (Likkle is a Caribbean term for little) program that includes boys and girls from ages 4-6 years old.