Long Beach Youth Soccer Organization players gather at Heartwell Park to kick off the spring 2007 season in this undated photo.

11:45am | Some 41 years after its predecessor, Long Beach Youth Soccer Club, was launched by a group of dads who thought it would be easy to run their own soccer league, locally controlled Long Beach Youth Soccer Organization has recently drawn its spring season to a close and is already busily preparing for its main fall program.

As the only full-service soccer league in the city, LBYSO offers three levels of league play: Recreation for beginners, Signature for intermediate players who are looking for something more competitive than Recreation, and an advanced level for competitive players.

The league also offers soccer to children with mental and physical disabilities by way of its TOPS (The Outreach Program, for Soccer) program. Youth who participate in TOPS are placed on teams, receive uniforms and practice and play games for a full season just as any other child would.

Last fall, the league had roughly 90 Recreation teams and expects as many this fall. It projects to have 10 signature teams and 18 competitive level squads, as well, said Jim Owen, LBYSO’s league coordinator and board vice president.

In all, about 1,500 children register with the league each season, he said. The spring season runs from February through May, while its flagship fall season runs from August through December.

Open to all Long Beach youth ages 4 through 18, signups for the fall season are already in full swing. Currently, the cost to register a child is $120, which includes the league’s $85 fee as well as a fundraising fee of $20 and a city fee of $15 That price is good through June 21, after which time the cost will go up to $130, with the league’s fee jumping to $95.

For families facing tough times financially and are unable to afford the registration fee, Owen said the parents should contact the league directly to discuss their situation “and we will do whatever we can to get those kids out there playing.”

Signups were held at the league’s recent Spring Soccer Festival, which was held at Heartwell Park on May 21, Owen said.

Soccer City, which is located off of Woodruff Avenue and Los Coyotes Diagonal, serves as the league’s main registration headquarters, or parents can sign their kids up by visiting the league’s website at LBYSO.org. Additionally, he said two more park registration days will be held sometime in June. The exact dates have yet to be announced, but parents can check the website for udpates, he said.

The coaches consist mainly of volunteers who go through a rigorous background check through the Department of Justice, Owen said. The league also assists volunteer coaches in obtaining basic Youth Module and “E” coaching licenses through the California Youth Soccer Organization.

“Along with the new coaches that come in every year,  we also have coaches that are extremely experienced and have national licenses,” Owen added. “All of our coaches ultimately follow a curriculum that is modeled after the U.S. Soccer Federation coaching courses and coaching curriculum.

“Our goal is to focus on improving the coach, thereby improving the player. We have just recently changed our entire coaching outline and have added internal coaching clinics and requirements that will be met throughout the year,” he continued. “We are asking coaches to participate in continuing education, attending clinics throughout the year.”

Heartwell Park is very much the league’s “home base,” with most games and practices held at the green open space between Woodruff and Bellflower Boulevard. Additional sites used are Marshall Middle School, Bancroft Middle School and Newcombe Academy.

Kids looking to improve upon their skills in a more intimate setting are provided with such an opportunity every Friday night, when all registered league members can attend what have been dubbed “Friday Skills Night” sessions in which the league’s more advanced coaches work with kids in small groups.  These are offered free of charge.

“This is a huge benefit,  as these types of camps or skills night (sessions) could cost in excess of $100 for a season’s worth of training,” Owens said.

The league has since 1983 been a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, and it is governed by Cal South, or the California Youth Soccer Organization, which ultimately falls under the auspices of the United States Soccer Federation.

What sets LBYSO apart from the American Youth Soccer Organization, Owen said, is the fact that LBYSO is locally based.

“Unlike the various AYSO regions, LBYSO acts as as an independent league, and we are able to make decisions at the league level which really gives (the) board, coaches and parents a lot of say in how we run our league and what we are able to offer the kids,” Owen said.

This, however, was not always the case.

Six years after its founding in 1970, the group of fathers who started the club realized they had taken on more than they could manage, and the league, then just a club, affiliated with AYSO as Long Beach Region 114 in September 1976.

The relationship, however, didn’t last, and just three years after it had linked up with AYSO, the club severed ties with the national organization and resumed independent programming as the Long Beach Youth Soccer Organization.

“The original members of Long Beach Youth Soccer Club felt that it was in the best interest of the kids to leave Region 114,” Owen said.

Back on its own, having incurred the various costs associated with joining AYSO and then the subsequent dissolution of that partnership, the league found itself penniless.

“LBYSO essentially had to start from scratch, working with vendors to pay bills when they could and getting great community support to help support the league,” Owen said.

Four years later in 1983, LBYSO received its nonprofit status, and the directors of the league voted on a constitution and set of bylaws. As such, Owen said that the league considers 1983 as its establishment date.

LBYSO relies heavily on three main fundraising efforts to support its operations financially.
The first is a partnership with the Los Angeles Galaxy.

“Part of each child’s registration fee is a ticket to a (Los Angeles) Galaxy game on September 9. A portion of the ticket sales goes directly back to us as does all other additional tickets purchased for that game through LBYSO,” Owen explained. “This is the first time we are solely using the L.A. Galaxy in this capacity, and we are very excited about this partnership.”

Owen said the league also plans to host a summer camp that will feature skills workshops led by Galaxy players.

The league’s second fundraiser is its annual tournament, the Long Beach Mayor’s Cup.
“We have been running this tournament for the last 24 years, and we routinely get around 100 teams from Fresno down to San Diego that come to play every January.”

A second tournament, the FC Long Beach Invitational, is the organization’s third fundraising source.
Though he has sat on the LBYSO Board of Directors for just the last two years, Owen has long been associated with the league, beginning in 1980 when he first registered to play LBYSO soccer.

“Through the years I’ve played, refereed, coached and am now serving on the board as well as coaching my young children,” he said.

To Owen, soccer is a “complete” sport.

“It promotes physical fitness, mental fitness, team work and individualism. All of these aspects are important to being able to play the game and are important in life,” he said. “There are many negative distractions for kids these days and soccer, in any league, offers kids the ability to stay active, to meet new people (and), mainly, to get involved.”

To contact LBYSO, visit its website, LBYSO.org, click on the “Contact Us” option and fill out the appropriate fields on the contact information form that pops up.