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