7/23/24 - 7/28/24 - USYS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS IN ORLANDO
8/21/24 - VYSA BOARD MEETING IN FREDERICKSBURG, VA
RECREATION AND TRAVEL PLAYER DATA
Clubs can now upload new Travel or Recreational players into their account. In the player upload the competitive level will either be Travel or Recreational
Travel event registration for the new season is OPEN. Clubs can register their teams to their respective events at any time - NCSL, EDP, Club Champions. Please have teams ready for approval at least one week before the first game. Travel roster approvals will begin August 1st
Please have teams registered and rostered as early as possible
Recreational player Direct Registration is now open. Recreational players MUST be Directly Registered to VYSA before they can be added to a rec roster
Be on the lookout for emails with details on the registration process from Kristen Osteen (Kristen@vysa.com
Virginia Youth Soccer Association encourages Member Clubs and Leagues to nominate individuals who went above and beyond for the good of the game during the 2023-2024 Season
Administrator of the Year
Boys Competitive Coach of the Year
Girls Competitive Coach of the Year
Boys Recreational Coach of the Year
Girls Recreational Coach of the Year
TOPSoccer Buddy of the Year
TOPSoccer Coach of the Year
Volunteer of the Year
Young Male Referee of the Year
Young Female Referee of the Year
Team Manager of the YEAR
The deadline to submit nominations is October 1, 2024.
Download Nomination Forms
WHAT’S NEW
MOTIONS RECENTLY APPROVED BY THE MEMBERSHIP AT THE AGM
Motion to approve the 2024-2025 VYSA Budget.
Motion to change the VYSA Fiscal year-end from 8/31 to 7/31.
Motion to approve the nominations for the 2024-2025 Board of Directors
Bill Phillips, President
Tom Lewis, Treasurer
Corky Webster, North Recreational Commissioner #1
David Glass, Central Recreational Commissioner
Brad Powell, West Recreational Commissioner
Richard Smith, NCSL (Travel League) Commissioner
2024-2025 VYSA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The VYSA Membership voted to approve the nominations for open seats on the VYSA Board of Directors at the 2024 Annual General Meeting
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
President, Bill Phillips
Vice President, Anne Thompson
Secretary, John Simpson
Treasurer, Tom Lewis
North Recreational Commissioner, John Davis
North Recreational Commissioner, Corky Webster
West Recreational Commissioner, David Glass
Central Recreational Commissioner, Brad Powell
Travel Commissioner (NCSL), Richard Smith
Travel Commissioner (Club Champions) , Brian Kuk
2024-25 VIRGINIA STATE CUP PIONEERS COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS BETWEEN U.S. SOCCER ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERS
VYSA is pleased to announce that Virginia will be the first state association to combine previously competing State Cups into a singular event co-hosted by Virginia Youth Soccer and US Club Soccer!
VYSA is grateful to the leadership of US Club Soccer for their collaboration on this project that will provide the soccer clubs, teams and families in Virginia with a best-in-class event This reimagined State Cup is open to competitive teams registered to VYSA/US Youth Soccer and US Club Soccer There is a pathway for the top finishing teams from each sanctioning organization to participate further in the US Youth Soccer National Championship Series and US Club Soccer National Cup
Below are the links to the press release that was sent out on July 15th, a deck with pertinent information regarding the event, and an event registration link.
GOVERNING BODY UPDATES
U.S. SOCCER UPDATES
U S Soccer is making significant progress on it’s Strategic Vision. View the US Soccer Strategic Pillars, Core Philosophies, and Accelerated Initiatives HERE.
VYSA received an ITG grant from U S Soccer support of the “Get on the Bus” initiative To learn more about this program, read HERE.
The U.S. Soccer senior leadership (led by President Cindy Cone and CEO JT Batson) and their staff are evaluating ideas on a reimagined youth soccer ecosystem Over the next several months this thorough evaluation will continue.
VYSA Executive Director, Don Rawson, is serving on the Competition Working Group.
Information about how to apply for an ITG Grant from U S Soccer HERE Applications must be received by August 25th.
USYS UPDATES
Elections were held at the USYS AGM on 7/27/24
Congratulations to Tina Rincon, who was elected President. Thank you to Todd Lockheart for his service as President.
In 2024-25, the State Cup winning teams will still advance to the regional level competition of the National Championship Series (NCS). An announcement is expected later in 2024 about significant changes to begin with the 2025-26 seasonal year
USYS launched a monthly Grassroots Coffee Talk Series to engage state associations, their members, and others involved in grassroots soccer. To register for an upcoming session hosted by Dr. Sari Rose click HERE. The USYS Grassroots Coffee Talk on US Soccer’s Innovate to Grow program took place on July 11th To view the Grant Writing presentation, click HERE. USYS announced that the 2024 Grassroots Symposium will be in Salt Lake City, Utah in September. To register or learn more click HERE.
VYSA UPDATES
The fee for recreational players is now reduced from $9.00 to $8.75 per player if player and coaching data is submitted to the state office by September 16th, and payment received in the state office by September 30th.
VYSA has enlisted the services of The Collective Global to assist VYSA in a strategic planning initiative Phase 1 was completed June 2024
VYSA staff is working on a timeline to travel through Virginia to share the vision and get feedback from the membership to complete the strategic planning process. The dates, times and places will be determined in the next few weeks
VYSA has partnered with the Get on the Bus program and earns US Soccer ITG grant. Read more HERE. Thank you to Sheehy Toyota of Fredericksburg for donation $5,000 to the Virginia ODP program
2024-2025 OLYMPIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM DISTRICT TRYOUTS
This summer, VYSA is offering the District Tryouts for the Virginia ODP program 2024-2025 Season.
August 2 – West (Roanoke
August 3 – North (Northern Virginia) Tryouts held in Fredericksburg
Visit the link below to explore the benefits of the Virginia Olympic Development Program and the US Youth Soccer ODP Pathway
Explore ODP
IMPORTANT INSURANCE UPDATE
VYSA has renewed its agreement with Players Health for the 2024-25 seasonal year. Players Health will provide medical and liability insurance as well as Certificates of Insurance (COIs).
Beginning on Monday, August 5th member organizations may visit the link below to begin the process of obtaining COI’s
VYSA also provides Directors & Officers (D&O) insurance for all of its members. For details or questions contact Robert Carey at Robert@vysa.com.
USYS PRESIDENTS CUP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Virginia Youth Soccer Association thanks Virginia Valor FC 2009G White and Arlington SA 2011G Blue for representing Virginia at the USYS Presidents Cup National Championships in Wichita, Kansas from 7/12 - 7/16
Congratulations to both teams on a great season!
USYS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Doradus FC SDor U18B Elite represented Virginia at the US Youth Soccer National Championship in Orlando, Florida from July 23 to July 28th
Congratulations on a great season and thank you for representing Virginia!
REFEREE RECOGNITION
Congratulations to the Metro DC-Virginia Referees who were chosen to participate in the US Youth Soccer Nationals Championships and the US Youth Soccer Presidents Cup National Championships
For more information on the Metro DCVirginia State Referees visit their website with the link below. Become a
USYS National Championships
Audrey Atwell 1.
Lauren Atwell 2.
Akash Fewell 3.
Adam Gallini 4
Jason Pacious 5
Sarah Siegel 6
Presidents Cup Nationals
Casey Burridge 1.
James Zogran 2.
Kayla Emond 3.
Daniel Waddle 4
Andrew Smith 5
Lauren Atwell 6
Kahla Romine 7
Miguel Llamas 8.
Riley Palmer 9.
Audrey Atwell 10.
Virginia Valor FC 2009G White
Arlington SA 2011G Blue
COACHING EDUCATION
On Wednesday, July 18, VYSA hosted twenty four Virginia Coach Educators for a workshop at James Monroe High School in Fredericksburg, VA. These coaches are all certified as Coach Educational Instructors through USYS and US Club Soccer The coaches participated in both classroom sessions and gym presentations
The purpose of the workshop was to equip coach educators with updated materials, strategies, and a curriculum relevant to VYSA coaching courses.
These instructors will go out to the Virginia club system to conduct coaching courses for everyone who wants continued education.
To schedule a two-hour, complimentary C4C session for your coaches, please contact Jessica Cottet at jessica@vysa com
IMPORTANT NOTICE
GotSport is the association's official technology partner. Club and league registrars are encouraged to visit the VYSA website for resources on navigating the GotSport registration platform
A GotSport refresher zoom meeting was held on July 16th To view the recorded meeting please check the VYSA GotSport Onboarding website, HERE.
Contact Kristen Osteen at Kristen@vysa.com for GotSport related questions
US Soccer approved VYSA for a three-year extension of the 'Women in Coaching' Innovate to Grow Grant to further support female coaches in Virginia and the District of Columbia. This grant supports female coaches seeking to further their education with US Soccer Grassroots Coaching Courses and Licensures The grant allows VYSA to support all women registered for any US Soccer coaching course as well as those coaches registered for all-female courses
In 2023 and 2024, 233 female coaches have enrolled in a US Soccer coaching course through VYSA supported by the US Soccer ITG Grant.
For clubs interested in hosting coaching courses, please contact Jessica@vysa.com to get started
SAFESPORT COMPLIANCE
All VYSA Member Clubs are REQUIRED to submit a SafeSport Compliance Form to VYSA in accordance with U.S. Soccer Federation mandates and VYSA SafeSport Policy.
Center for SafeSport Policy Revisions:
The Center has released the final version of the SafeSport Code, which went into effect on July 1st Please navigate HERE to find the newest version of the Code, along with a summary of its noteworthy revisions. Please reach out to Alison or Bria if you have any questions about the Code updates.
Contact Kristen Osteen in Member Services, at Kristen@vysa.com, for any questions regarding SafeSport
U.S. SOCCER EXCITING UPDATES
U.S. Soccer is thrilled to announce that the valuable content from the “Recognize to Recover” program is migrating to a new and enhanced section on the Learning Center, now called the “Center for Health, Innovation, and Performance”
Starting today, you can access the first set of articles in this new section. CHIP is a resource hub, offering cutting-edge insights and practical tools to support health, innovation, and performance in soccer
Explore the new content and stay tuned for more updates and resources that will help you stay at the forefront of soccer health and performance
STATE OFFICE OPERATIONS
M-F | 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM (540) 693-1430
4805 Lassen Lane, Fredericksburg, VA 22408
DON RAWSON Don@vysa.com
Executive Director
ROBERT CAREY Robert@vysa.com
Director, Finance and Administration
JESSICA COTTET Jessica@vysa.com
Director, Technical Department Operations
KRISTEN OSTEEN
Manager of Member Services
Kristen@vysa.com
CHLOE ERAZO
Manager of Marketing and Communications
Chloe@vysa.com
Technical Director
GORDON MILLER Vysatd@vysa.com
Senior Manager of Finance and Administration
THOMAS TRUSLOW Thomas@vysa.com
RAY FORD Ray@vysa.com
Director, Events
VA-DC Soccer HOF Golf Tournament will take place on Thursday September 26, 2024 at the Pleasant Valley Golf Club in Chantilly,
