WAGS REFLECTIONS

BY ADELE DOLANSKY

Last article, I discussed the initial birth of WAGS from its conception to its first official league season in the Fall of 1974.

But while the foundation for the first competitive all-girls travel soccer league was being laid, in the background, a new association was born in New York City. I would be remiss not to mention its creation, and how it shaped WAGS going forward.

In August of 1973, the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) held an annual general meeting, in which a motion was presented to establish a US Youth Soccer Association (USYSA). The following year, the motion was passed, with then-current USSF 5 th VP Don Greer acting as organization’s chairman. From this moment, USYSA was a national organization, and they wasted no time in enforcing their power.

My first encounter with the USYSA was at a club meeting at the Annandale Boys Bingo Hall. Around this time, I was acting as the Fairfax Police Youth Club (FPYC) representative. USYSA had sent two representatives to the meeting, Region I Commissioner Henry “Hank” Horn and Trevor Hunt, President of the Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association. From the beginning, their intent was clear: they wanted every club team to affiliate with their association.

Some club officials believed that they had no need to affiliate their teams with USYSA. They’d been operating viable club programs on their own and were of the mindset that they didn’t need to be a member of a National Organization. However, USYSA was adamant in their request. States Associations were told to register their clubs and leagues with the association, or travel/tournament permissions would be revoked for all teams.

This created a chain of command on the state level, where State Associations would ally themselves under the umbrella of the USYSA. Clubs and leagues affiliated with these State Associations, and in turn those associations would pay dues to the USYSA for the right to travel and create their own tournaments.

At first, clubs only affiliated their travel teams. However, as time passed, the mandate was reinforced, as unaffiliated teams would be forbidden from participating in national events, such as the National Championship Series (NCS) and the National State Association ODP. Ten years later, 100% affiliation was fully enforced across the country.

This directly led to the creation of the Virginia Metropolitan Youth Soccer Association (VMYSA) in the 1975-1976 seasonal year. Due to their teams’ proximity to WAGS, certain Maryland counties were members of the Virginia State Association before branching off in 1976 as the Maryland State Youth Soccer Association (MSYSA). Rael Vodicka was elected Vice-President of VMYSA, and she took on that responsibility for WAGS making sure that the league was informed and had a voice in the organization.

With assurance that WAGS would be represented on the board, Rael and Mavis confidently petitioned their desire to institute a girls’ soccer program in high schools. The two carried this cause at Fairfax County High School meetings, and with the support of VMYSA, as well as their ceaseless determination, junior varsity and varsity girls’ soccer program became an official high school sport sometime between the spring of 1977 and 1978.

Renewed and empowered by the creation of the USYSA, and with one of the Founders sitting as the Vice President of the VMYSA, WAGS was able to seamlessly weave itself into the roots of girls’ soccer in the Northern Virginia area. As the spring seasons of 1975-76 began, clubs new and old joined the league, and new people took over the helm behind the scenes.

WAGS Spring 1975 Season Clubs: Annandale, Bladensburg, Bowie, Braddock Road, Camp Springs, Fairfax Police, Great Falls, Vienna, and Virginia Hills.

On Colombus Weekend in October of 1975, the Founders held a tournament that would go on to become an annual event for WAGS in the coming years. The goal was to put WAGS’ best against the nation’s best, and included out-of-town teams from Canada, New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, and Maryland.