Primary Core Program
At the core of what we do is our primary core program: youth soccer for players from age 4 to age 19. We have teams starting with four-year olds (called 5U because they are "five years old and under" by the time the season ends. We have single-year age group for 6U, then two-year age groups for 8U, 10U, 12U, and 14U, and finally a 19U age group for high school aged kids.
AYSO takes a progressive approach to soccer, with the game for our youngest players being very simple and the number of players, size of the fields, and the modifications of the laws of the game changing as they build up to the full 11-a-side game at 14U.
For our players, the season begins with a call from the coach sometime in the third week of August. In that call, the coach announces when and where the team meeting will be held, when practices happen, and when the games will be. Then the team gets together for two or three weeks of practices before the first of eight games. Those games happen on eight consecutive Saturdays in September and October. Then the team takes a break from November to February. Sometime in February, the coach calls again, and the team gets together for another eight games on Saturdays in March and April.