The United States Youth Soccer Association (US Youth Soccer, abbreviated USYS) is the largest youth affiliate and member of the

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of soccer in the United States. It is a full member of FIFA and governs American soccer ...

, the governing body for

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

in the United States. US Youth Soccer includes 54 State Associations, one per state except for

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, which each have two State Associations. US Youth Soccer is a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

. The US Youth Soccer membership is divided into four geographic regions; Eastern, Midwest, Southern and Far West.

History

The association was founded in 1974 with 100,000 registered players. Its founding chairman was Donald Greer, who served in the role until 1984 and was also vice president of the U.S. Soccer Federation from 1972 to 1984. Greer's co-founders included Karl Grosch and

Robert Nessler The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

. By the early 1990s, USYS counted more than 1 million players, and by 2006 it counted more than 3 million registered players.

Programs

USYS created the Olympic Development Program (ODP) in 1977. , USYS continues to operate the ODP. ODP works with state soccer associations to identify high-level youth soccer talent via age-grouped tryouts, then selects players for regional development programs and national camps.

Competitions

USYS holds the annual US Youth Soccer National Championships for age groups from under-13 to under-19. USYS also operates the US Youth Soccer National League. National select teams compete in tournaments against clubs in other youth leagues, such as the

Elite Clubs National League The Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) is a national youth soccer developmental league in the United States. It was founded in 2009 as a girls' league and added a boys' league in 2017. Competition format The ECNL is divided by age groups from U- ...

Operation

USYS is based in

Frisco, Texas Frisco is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Collin County, Texas, Collin and Denton County, Texas, Denton counties. It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex (DFW) and about from both Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth In ...

, and is led by a

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

. , the CEO of USYS is Skip Gilbert, who has served in the role since January 10, 2020.

Controversy

2022 abuse lawsuit

In August 2022, US Youth Soccer was among the defendants named in a lawsuit brought by a former youth player alleging that organizational negligence contributed to her sexual assault by a youth soccer coach.

Notable alumni

* Deandre Yedlin ( Washington Youth Soccer ODP, 2006–2009) *

Chloe Ricketts Chloe Cathleen Ricketts (born May 23, 2007) is an American professional soccer player for the Washington Spirit of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She joined the Spirit at the age of 15 in 2023, becoming the first player to sign under ...

(Michigan Tigers USYSNL)

In popular culture

Kwame Appiah Kwame Akroma-Ampim Kusi Anthony Appiah ( ; born 8 May 1954) is an English-American philosopher and writer who has written about political philosophy, ethics, the philosophy of language and mind, and African intellectual history. Appiah is Prof ...

, featured on season 4 of the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series '' Love is Blind'', was a coach for USYS ODP in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

from 2017 to 2018.

References

{{authority control Soccer governing bodies in the United States Youth soccer in the United States Youth soccer leagues in the United States