AYSO salutes good sports
Recently, the American Youth Soccer Organization recognized its players not only for their hard soccer playing but for their fair-minded playing spirit.
For the fifth year, (AYSO) Region 88 held its Sportsmanship Award ceremonies at the Glendale Sports Complex.
The ceremonies honored 308 players ages 4-18 for exemplifying the spirit of AYSO and for displaying good sportsmanship during the 2008 season.
Selected by their coaches, the recipients received a region T-shirt and were also listed in the 2008 yearbook that every player in the program received at the end of the season.
“Good sportsmanship is one of the five tenets of AYSO,” said Aldo Mascheroni, Region 88 Commissioner. “It is particularly important to recognize those players who have embraced the philosophy.”
The Sportsmanship Award was started in 2003 to recognize players who demonstrated qualities besides good play and success on the playing field.
AYSO Region 88 is an all-volunteer soccer and child-development organization and is the largest youth athletic program in the Glendale community, with 3,600 players on 333 teams that played 164 games every weekend from September through December on various venues throughout Glendale. Its website is www.ayso88.org and new volunteers are always welcome.
— Contributed by
Joni Kellam