History

AYSO was founded in Torrance, California in September 1964. At that time, there were few opportunities for youth to play organized soccer; AYSO’s goal was to bring soccer to a broad segment of youth. Starting with nine teams of 9- to 12-year-olds, AYSO soon grew to 72 teams. In 1967, AYSO expanded to Northern California. Today, AYSO has grown to more than 600,000 players nationwide. AYSO became a National Affiliate of the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) in 1989, and has established a direct link to FIFA (the Federation Internationale de Football Association), the international governing body of soccer.