The Phenomenal Growth of Youth Soccer in the East Bay Part 1: Where to Start Playing By: Greg Lejnieks

Castro Valley Youth Soccer - Opening day

I feel particularly qualified to write this article not because I've been in soccer since I can remember, but because my father has been in soccer as long as I can remember. 

My father, Olav, is one of the early pioneers. In 1966 he became one of a handful of people to launch competitive soccer in Napa, California when he established the Napa High School men’s team.

Four years later he brought in Detmar Kramer, a high level German National Team coach, to put on a clinic. Ten people showed up to my father’s 1970 clinic. 

We’ve come a long way, haven’t we?

I started playing when I was around eight by practicing with my father’s high school team. I played organized youth ball through the school systems since at the time the California Youth Soccer Association did not have youth leagues in Napa. My  first introduction to CYSA was by participation with the CYSA – N U16 State ODP team.

At 37, having gone through the system and having now become an executive with a professional soccer team I am astonished when I reflect on the phenomenal growth of both youth and adult soccer in the United States since the “pioneering years” of my father’s generation. 

Some facts (provided by the Soccer Industry Council of America): 

• Today soccer is the fastest growing sport in the United States.
•  It is the second largest participatory sport in the U.S. ages 6 – 17 (basketball is first) with 18 million + players. 
• The youth male/female ratio splits are 60/40.
• The ten-year growth trend at the high school level for soccer is +72.7% as opposed to basketball, football, and baseball at +5.1%, +3.4%, and +7% respectively.
•  California is the top soccer state by participation at 2 million +.
• The Oakland, San Jose, San Francisco area is the 4th largest soccer market in the U.S.
• The East Bay may be the most densely populated youth participatory are in the U.S.

If you really want to know I suggest a website that archives US soccer history, www.sover.net/~spectrum/. 

But in brief, organized soccer has been in the United States for hundreds of years. However, the renaissance of soccer did not really appear until 1960. Until then soccer had been a primarily ethnic driven sport. With the growth of the suburbs, and the need for an inexpensive, relatively easy sport for the nuclear family to play,  soccer exploded. 

During that period two organizational groups developed to manage youth soccer in the U.S., the United States Youth Soccer Association (USYSA) and the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO). The USYSA is the larger administrative arm of state groups such as the California Youth Soccer Association (CYSA). Groups like CYSA and AYSO subdivide themselves into smaller districts (CYSA) or regions (AYSO) to manage youth soccer at the regional level. 

CYSA-N District 4 runs the East Bay for CYSA and AYSO Region 281 runs the East Bay for their organization. Collectively, they manage roughly 35,000 youth with CYSA Dist. 4 taking up the bulk of this number. Both organizations are excellent groups, are dedicated to the needs of their constituents on both educational and athletic matters, and are primarily run by volunteers who never cease to amaze me with their dedication, time and effort. 

CYSA – N Dist. 4 leagues are Alameda Contra Costa YSL, Walnut Creek YSL, Castro Valley YSL, South Alameda YSL, West Contra Costa YSL, LaMorinda Soccer Club, Vallejo YSL, Delta YSL, Benicia YSL, Union City YSL, E. Diablo YSL, Jack London YSL, Hayward YSL, and Diablo Valley YSL. 

Outside of these youth leagues are ethnic leagues, unified school system leagues, and  youth athletic leagues run by groups such as YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, and Jewish Community Centers. 

I have been more involved with CYSA.  If you are deciding CYSA and AYSO here is a brief comparison of both systems. 

AYSO

•  Slightly less emphasis on clubs
• A player must play within residential boundaries
• More recreationally minded (although Southern California has very competitive AYSO leagues)
• No tryouts. Everyone plays
• Lower cost as everyone is volunteer: administration, coaches, referees
• Less travel for games
• Centralized administration

• More emphasis on the club system
• Bit more competitive for the players. CYSA leagues offer both recreation and competitive squads
• Competitive teams are formed through try-out process
• Players can, in some instances, play outside their region
• Can be expensive depending on the competitive level of the team and how many tournaments the team goes on
• Paid coaching and referees
•  Lots of travel opportunities
• Although CYSA administration is centralized they do decentralize administration so there is administrative support at the district and team levels 

CYSA - District 4, I believe, is blessed to have some very talented and committed individuals working as either administrators, coaches, and referees. Of course, it is impossible to name them all in this short article, but a few names come to mind.

Starting at the top is the District 4 commissioner, Bob Morris. Bob also holds the capacity of Recreation Committee Chairman for US Youth Soccer. It is his personal goal to bring a strong and useable educational component to the sport so our youth not only walk away with an understanding of soccer, but also carry with them the educational foundation to become well cultivated men and women. 

For the sake of this article you might want to know the following:  Jack Northrop (Asst. Commissioner/youth referee administrator), Marilyn Voecks (registration), John Tomei (State Playing League), and Paul and Pat Hodges (tournaments). A full list of CYSA Committee positions can be found at www.cysanorth.org/cysa/cysa_2000_contact_directory.htm.

If you want to get involved the task is not as daunting as it might seem. By simply going on the internet you can find the CYSA, AYSO, or youth service clubs in your area. 

The first thing a parent should know is that from ages 6 to around 9 organized ball may not necessarily be the way to go. This may be blasphemy, but really, isn’t the whole point at the early ages to have fun? 

Recently, I had a meeting with Austin McGhie, the  CEO of Young and Rubicam, a well-respected international advertising and public relations firm. Austin, by the way was born in Scotland, played high level soccer in Canada, and is still an active adult soccer player. 

We were talking about the state of soccer in the U.S. and he made a very poignant observation when he said one reason professional soccer games may not be as well attended as we would expect them to be due to the numbers of participants is that soccer may be too organized. Which in turn takes some of the passion out of the game. He pointed out that if you look around you don’t see a lot of kids just kicking the ball around. They are all being transported around by their soccer  moms from practice to games to practice to tournaments and back to practice again. Just how much can a kid take, right?

But if you want to get organized a typical route looks like this:

From U6 to around U12 your child can play recreational soccer in either CYSA or AYSO. If he/she is more competitive or looking for a bit more structure and competition they should probably play CYSA ball. 

Starting at middle school and moving into high school your child can play in both CYSA/AYSO type leagues and in school leagues. East Bay school leagues are some of the best in the country and have helped produce some of our brightest talents. 

Also between U16 and U19 very skilled and/or competitive youth can play in what is called CYSA Class I State Premier Leagues. These are highly competitive leagues that will involve lots of travel. 

About 1% (according to the CYSA website) of highly skilled players are asked to play on  Olympic Development Teams (ODP). ODP is a system developed by the USYSA to identify top talent in each state to funnel towards the national team. ODP is for both boys and girls. The program begins at U14. Your child would first be selected to play on the District all-star team (tryout are in April-June). From there they can be selected to play on the CYSA-N ODP team and so on.

As previously mentioned I was fortunate to play in the OPD program in 1980 and ’81. While on the team I traveled to Germany and Finland. I highly suggest using soccer as a cultural program for your child. Even if they might not have the skill level to play ODP there are numerous exchange programs that allow teams of all levels to either play tournaments around the world or host visiting foreign youth teams. There may be no better educational opportunity for the young mind then experiencing another culture first hand.

Another interesting development in youth soccer is one I am personally involved with. As professional soccer matures those of us in the business are realizing that the most interesting, entertaining, and socially responsible way to survive as a business is to vertically integrate ourselves as a club system with our communities. 

This is by no means a new model. The success of soccer development in South America and Europe has not come through the top/down structure but through professional teams, like Manchester United, that started over a century ago as local town (amateur) clubs.

The Seals model, that is also developing in other areas of our country such as Seattle, Rochester, Charleston, and San Diego, is to build soccer specific stadiums with outside fields for youth and adult amateur use with attached club areas for our community to use as social centers. 

Through this system we can develop our own farm club systems using local talent, help our communities with the tremendous field crunch they have, hold tournaments, and support pre-existing youth league groups like CYSA and AYSO.

I mention this development not as a well placed advertisement but because we are now seeing the natural progression of soccer in the U.S. A process the Seals are a part of with our East Bay community. As soccer continues to grow it is becoming not just a sport for our youth but a social event for the entire family. 

Three decades ago I was one of only a few who had a father who understood the game. Today there are millions of families with both dads and moms who are either still playing or once played. Which, of course, means the next time Detmar Kramer shows up the crowd might be a little bit bigger. 

Next Week: Tournament Play.

Greg Lejnieks is Chief Operating Officer/Minority Owner of  Bay Area Seals Pro Soccer