Commissioner's Message Palos Verdes AYSO Welcome to the Palos Verdes region of the American Youth Soccer Association (AYSO) located on the beautiful Palos Verdes Peninsula. We offer recreational and competitive soccer programs year-round to boys and girls ages 4 to 19 years old. Our core philosophies ensure Peninsula youth the environment for fun and fair soccer … those philosophies are: • EVERYONE PLAYS • BALANCED TEAMS • OPEN REGISTRATION • POSITIVE COACHING • GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP

Our primary fall season is held on Saturdays from September to December. In 2007, 3,000 children played soccer on the finest quality fields located throughout the Peninsula. Palos Verdes AYSO offers single-year age divisions for the Under 5 division through the Under 12 division. This allows children to enjoy soccer with their classmates.

The Under 9 through Under 14 divisions compete in the King- and Queen-of-the-Hill playoffs upon conclusion of the regular season. Playoff champions are crowned Kings or Queens of the Hill!

2008 Fall Registrations
Early bird registrations for our primary 2008 fall season will be held on April 19 and May 17 at Hesse Park in Rancho Palos Verdes. The third and last registration for the Under 7 to Under 19 age divisions will be held on June 14, also at Hesse Park. On August 19, an Under 5 and Under 6 ONLY registration will be held at the boardroom of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District headquarters in Palos Verdes Estates.

You must pre-register your child online with the AYSO national database located at www.eAYSO.org BEFORE you come to registration.

In April, we mail to families whose children played in 2007 important registration information. Look for a small packet again this year. All basic information will be posted on this website in order to save resources. In addition, we’ll distribute flyers through PVPUSD schools and blast e-mail messages as a reminder of our registrations. We want to make sure all Peninsula youth have a chance to play soccer!

Year-Round Palos Verdes AYSO Opportunities
We also offer recreational winter and summer soccer programs. The winter season is held on eight consecutive Saturdays in January and February for children between 7 and 12 years old. The summer program is played on eight consecutive Wednesday nights in July and August for players between 7 and 12. These are practice-free programs.

Higher-skilled players have the opportunity to play on Palos Verdes AYSO select or tournament teams starting at the Under 9 division. Coaches designated by our tournament Committee form select teams that typically play from November through the following June or July. Each age division supports both a boys’ team and a girls’ team; two teams are selected for both the Under 9 and the Under 10 divisions. More than 300 players currently participate in our select program. Once the select teams are formed for each age division, tournament teams may also be formed, providing additional spring and summer tournament opportunities.

Palos Verdes AYSO select teams that stay together through the Under 12 season earn the honor of representing us in Hawaii at annual Rainbow Cup or other Hawaiian tournaments. We subsidize each team’s trip. Several recent Palos Verdes AYSO select teams have played in the championship matches at the Rainbow, and, more importantly, have competed for the tournament’s Sportsmanship Award.

As part of our select program, Palos Verdes AYSO hosts a Spring Select League that’s played from early February through May each year. More than 1,000 players representing 70 teams from the greater South Bay area are playing in our 2008 Spring Select League.

Our Community
Every August, we host a weeklong soccer camp of all levels of play to prepare them for the upcoming fall season. We are pleased to welcome back Major League Soccer Camps for the summer 2008 camp the week of August 18 to 22.

In addition to our on-the-field efforts, Palos Verdes AYSO supports several other soccer programs. We collect teams’ uniforms after the fall season and donate them to well deserving youth in the United States and internationally. In addition, each year we honor two worthy AYSO youth volunteers through our Jeff Rickel Memorial Scholarship program. Graduating high school seniors who played in AYSO and who have volunteered in Palos Verdes AYSO activities are eligible to apply. (Please see the website for the application.) In 2007, two outstanding candidates, Palos Verdes Peninsula High School seniors Nick Beranek and Daniel Zerunyan were awarded Rickel scholarships.

Palos Verdes AYSO Night at the Los Angeles Galaxy
We’re pleased to announce the renewal of our partnership with the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team. Every child who registers to play in the fall season will receive a ticket to the annual Palos Verdes AYSO Night at the Galaxy. It will be held this year on Sunday, October 12, 2008. Palos Verdes AYSO players and their families will occupy the north end line general admission section of the Home Depot Center. The section will be reserved for our group. Seating will be open so the fall teams (and their families) can sit together to watch the game. Players from our region will participate in pre-game ceremonies and teams from our region will play mini-games at halftime! The Galaxy will provide fun games and activities at both early registrations and will be on hand to sell additional discounted tickets for family members.

We Need You to Volunteer!
AYSO is an all-volunteer organization. Fifty dedicated volunteers serve on the Region 10 board of directors and work year-round to organize fair and friendly AYSO soccer for the nearly 5,000 children who play in our program in Palos Verdes at some time during the year. The contact list of our website provides contact information for these individuals.

In addition to our Board, more than 500 parents volunteer to coach each year, and we are blessed with more than 200 well-trained adult and youth referees. The next time that you see a coach or referee on the field making this program possible for your child, please take a moment to acknowledge his or her efforts.

Our website www.ayso10.org contains additional information about many of these programs. Be sure to check our calendar for registration dates, times and locations for the fall program, as well as many other key dates throughout the year. We are constantly updating materials on our website, so visit often. If you need additional information, do not hesitate to contact the appropriate board member.

See you on the field!

Best wishes,

David G. Behenna
Regional Commissioner
March 2008