Ayso Overview

The American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) was founded in Torrance, CA in 1964. The league consisted of nine teams with almost 125 players. In the last 40 years, AYSO has grown to all 50 states, 50,000 teams, over 650,000 players, and also employs 50 people at its National Support and Training Center in Hawthorne, CA. In 1971, the first girls AYSO program was developed in the San Fernando Valley in California. This program now has corporate sponsorship, and is the first official sponsor of the national girl's soccer initiative. 1

Through the years, the organization has also maintained relations with organizations such as the National Council of Youth Sports, Girls Scouts USA, the National Association for Sports and Physical Education, People to People, Optimists International, Police Athletic Leagues, the National Alliance for Youth Sports, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, YMCA, the United States Soccer Federation, and the Character Counts program. In addition, AYSO works closely with 20 corporations that are part of the organization's National Team of Sponsors.

Over the years, AYSO has developed many programs which many youth sport organizations have employed in their own leagues. Most notably, "Everyone Plays", "Balanced Teams", and "VIP".2

"Everyone Plays" is a concept developed by AYSO aimed at the development of every players skills. In this program, each registered player is guaranteed to play at least one half of every game. This helps create trust, teamwork, and develops the skills of each player so they can gain confidence while on the field. This is also aimed and reducing the epidemic of youth obesity, which is spreading quickly across the country.

"Balanced Teams" is a team selection process aimed at balancing teams (hence the name), so one team isn't dominating the leagues each year. In this program, each player plays for a team for one year. The next season, players are not automatically chosen by the team which they played for the year before. This enables the higher skilled players to be placed with new players and teams. This program is aimed at helping players develop trust with their teammates, and so they learn to play with different people each year.

"VIP" was created for players with special needs. In the mid 70's, a coach in the program welcomed a player with Downs Syndrome onto his team. This was the first instance of this situation in AYSO's history. This landmark helped create "VIP", which now has over 75 programs across the country, with almost 1500 players.

AYSO has also created special programs aimed at older, more advanced players, and economically challenged players.

The College Athlete Program, known as "CAP", is aimed at elite players 13-18 years of age. The program is designed to help these players further enhance their skills, and prepare them for the jump to college. The program evaluates players on their soccer skills and also academic skills. They provide expert trainers for soccer, and counseling on post-high school education and athletics. The program enhances the players' concept of sport and sporting behavior. It also provides workshops on college entrance requirements and procedures.

The "Suit Up" program is designed to supply economically challenged areas with uniforms and supplies to start their own leagues. At the end of the season, coaches collect uniforms from their players, and donate them to regions in need. Regions can qualify for this program if they are a new program, and have a temporary cash-flow problem, or have too many items to purchase at once. Other qualifications include Priority, which means the region has other operational concerns such as field development, and new uniforms are low on their list of priorities. Also, regions that have suffered a disaster or economic hardships and are unable to support themselves through registration fees and fundraisers.1

This is the AYSO Player's Code:

Ð'* Play for the fun of it, not just to please your parents or coach.

Ð'* Play by the Laws of the Game.

Ð'* Never argue with or complain about referees' calls or decisions.

Ð'* Control your temper. Most of all, resist the temptation to retaliate when you feel you have been wronged.

Ð'* Concentrate on playing soccer with your best efforts. Work equally hard for your team as for yourself.

Ð'* Be a good sport by cheering all good plays, whether it is your team's or your opponent's.

Ð'* Treat all players as you would like to be treated.

Ð'* Remember that the goals of the game are to have fun, improve skills and feel good. Don't be a showoff or a ball hog.

Ð'* Cooperate with your coaches, teammates, opponents and the referees.4

The Player's Code is included in sign-up packets and information. AYSO aims at creating a safe and fun playing environment for all of its players. This code is a set of guidelines striving towards the goal of good sportsmanship.

AYSO has spread across the country, but also in other portions of the world. In 1995, two parents created the first overseas AYSO program in Moscow, Russia. Today, the Moscow program has over 500 registered players. AYSO has also expanded to Puerto Rico in the spring of 1998, and to American Samoa in 1999. AYSO programs have also been started on Native American Reservations across the country, being the first programs of their kind on the reservations.

AYSO is part of the youth sports segment of sports industry. The youth sport segment is one of the fastest growing and popular segments. Across the country, almost 70 million children participate in youth sport programs.3

AYSO is an international non-profit organization. It uses a hierarchal format, with a board of trustees running the organization. Under the board of trustees, there are sectional chairmen. There are 14 sections across the country. Under sectional chairmen are the Area directors. An area is a group of regions grouped close together. The regional commissioner and a local board of directors control each region. Each region contains one or multiple town programs, and can range from 500 players to several thousand.1

Section II

Redwood City is in the San Francisco Bay area, about 30 miles south of San Francisco, known as Region