Why doesn AYSO allow me to specify a team for my child(ren)?
Two of the mission statements of AYSO are “Balanced Teams” and “Everyone Plays”. These two philosophies become very important when you consider the goal of operating a soccer program where young people can learn to develop a positive self-image, self confidence and other positive character traits through their interest and participation in soccer. We want to achieve this goal with all kids. If kids were able to choose a specific team, then some teams would get stacked with experienced players. This would really diminish the image of soccer for the less experience teams. It is much more fun for everyone to play (and watch) close, evenly matched games, rather than “blow-outs”. Therefore, we strive to balance the skill level of the teams during team assignment. In the past we have tried to accomodate geographical associations, but this has been resulting in the same teams being played year after year and so we will have to back off from this policy.
