American Youth Soccer Organization
The American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) is one of the two main national organizations in youth soccer in the United States for children aged 4 through 19. AYSO was established as a non-profit soccer organization in Torrance (a suburb of Los Angeles, California) at Jefferson Elementary School in 1964 with nine teams. Today the organization claims membership of over 50,000 teams, with over 630,000 participants.
| Founded |
|
|---|---|
| Founders | Bill Hughes, Hans Stierle, Steve Erdos, Ralph Acosta, Ted McLain |
| Type | 501(c)(3) not-for-profit public charity |
| Focus | child-first and child-focused youth soccer organization |
| Location |
|
| Coordinates | 33.852002°N 118.2904967°W |
Area served | United States (primarily) |
| Method | regional youth soccer programs, coaching and referee training programs, administrative training and operating systems to support volunteers. |
Members | 400,000 children, 250,000 volunteers, 800 leagues (Regions) |
| Owner | American Youth Soccer Organization |
Key people | Michael Karon (National President) Doug Ryan (National Treasurer) Dan Howald (National Vice President) |
Revenue | $72,650,598 |
Employees | 20 |
Volunteers | 250,000 |
| Website | www |
AYSO is Headquartered in Torrance, California and has developed local programs known as "Regions" in all 50 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Trinidad and Tobago. The organization is run primarily by volunteers at its constituent local levels, with approximately 20 paid employees at its national headquarters.
Notable players who started their careers in AYSO programs include Landon Donovan, Carlos Bocanegra, Julie Foudy, Eric Wynalda, Shannon Boxx, Brian Ching, Alex Morgan, Kristen Graczyk, Natasha Kai, and Amy Rodriguez.