youth soccer

The American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) is a national, non-profit organization which provides soccer development and instruction for children between the ages of 4 and 19 in all fifty states and some territories of the United States. AYSO is mostly run at local levels by teams of volunteers, including administrators, coaches and referees, many of whom are parents or family of the youth they coach. The AYSO National office, which consists of 50 paid employees, is based in Hawthorne, California and provides programs for instruction of coaches and referees and child protection education to its volunteers. AYSO is affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation.

Beginning in August 2006, the AYSO National Board of Directors named Rick Davis as National Executive Director. Davis was a standout on the popular New York Cosmos professional soccer team. He also was captain of two Olympic soccer teams and has been inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Until his appointment he served as AYSO's Director of Programs where we was responsible for overseeing all Coaching, Officiating and Managagement training programs for the organization.

Philosophies

AYSO, which was founded in 1964, believes strongly in five basic philosophies: Everyone Plays, Balanced Teams, Open Registration, Positive Coaching, & Good Sportsmanship. AYSO was founded by Hans Stierle in the early 1960s. Stierle organized youth soccer games for the Los Angeles Soccer Club, a German club in North Hollywood that played against other local ethnic (mostly European) clubs.

To avoid the cross-town trip to the games, Stierle thought to get boys in his Torrance suburb interested in the world's most popular game. The first AYSO league started in 1964 with nine teams, and stressed Open Registration: "Anyone can sign up; you do not need to belong to one of the ethnic clubs."

Moving Forward

Stierle's own team had strong players from the LA Soccer Club team (including Sigi Schmid, who went on to play and coach at UCLA and coach LA Galaxy), and won nearly all its games. To even things out and make the experience more competitive and enjoyable for the other teams, the policy of Balanced Teams was adopted, whereby the stronger players were distributed around the league. This had a slightly perverse effect, as some weaker players who formerly played every minute were forced to the bench by the newly-arrived stars. To overcome this, the policy "Everyone Plays" was adopted, which mandated at least half a game for all players. That in turn led to AYSO games being divided into "quarters" for the purpose of monitoring substitutions.

Girls

In 1971, two San Fernando Valley residents developed AYSO's first girls' program. Currently, 40 percent of AYSO's players are girls.

Special Olympics

In the mid 70s, an AYSO coach chartered new territory as he welcomed the organization's first player with Down Syndrome. As a result of this landmark union, soccer was introduced into the Special Olympics. Today, AYSO offers its membership the Very Important Player (VIP) program for kids with special needs. VIP boasts 75 programs and 1,500 players.

Sportsmanship

In the 1980s the policy Good Sportsmanship was adopted at the urging of Alan Witcher, a coach from the San Fernando Valley.

Moscow

In 1995, two AYSO parents established the first AYSO program in Moscow. Today, the Moscow program has almost 500 registered players. In addition, an AYSO program was started in Puerto Rico in the spring of 1998 and another in American Samoa in 1999.

Growing Empire

Now one of the largest single youth sports organizations in the United States, AYSO is comprised of over 50,000 teams and 650,000 players, all supported by 250,000 volunteers. All players on a team should have the opportunity to play at least one half of every game. There are often two seasons a year, and teams are often formed new each year so that all teams are roughly equal in skill and ability of players. Players are taught the ethics of good teamwork and good character. AYSO has programs to encourage good sportsmanship not only among players and coaches, but also from fans and parents.

Sponsorship

National sponsors include: Score (uniforms), Molten USA (soccer balls), Clorox (laundry supplies), Cartoon Network (media partner), Capri Sun Sport (sport drink), Claritin (OTC allergy medicine), Shared Book (team year book), McDonald's, EZ Up (canopies), Fold A Goal (soccer goals), Sport Pin International (pins), Banners USA, (banners).

Affinity Partners

After School Alliance, Positive Coaching Alliance, National Council On Youth Sports, Character Counts Coalition, USSF, MLS, NSCAA, Parnership for a Drug Free America, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association

External links

• AYSO - The American Youth Soccer Organization website
• AYSOHELP - The American Youth Soccer Organization Instructor Web Page
• eAYSO - The American Youth Soccer Organization Online Database & Registration
• AYSOTRAINING - The American Youth Soccer Organization Online Training & Certification