Glendale Youth Sports was conceived and founded by the late Cecilia DeGuere in the early 1950's. GYS is a non-profit corporation run entirely by parent and community volunteers. Our goals are to foster and engender the physical and moral development of the youth taking part in our programs and to ensure that all children residing within the Glendale Elementary School attendance area are offered the opportunity to participate in an organized team sport. It is the mission of the GYS Board to involve in sports as many of the children of Glendale as possible. We also welcome youth from surrounding communities who don't have access to programs in their own community.

SOCCER
We have players of various experience and skill on our soccer teams and we guarantee at least 50% playing time in games and therefore cap our rosters for U8 and up at 2x the number of players on the field. In the Spring, practices start the first week of March, weather permitting. In the Fall, practices start in August. The girls typically practice on Mon and/or Wed and the boys typically practice on Tue and/or Thu. Final practice schedules will be up to coaches, but we recommend that they make one of the two practice nights optional if they do opt for two practice nights. Still, most kids end up attending both because they love being there so much. Spring games typically start the last weekend of March and run through mid-May. Fall games typically start after Labor Day and run through October. Most games are on Saturdays but we'll have 8-10 games over 6-8 weeks, so there are typically a couple of mid-week games. Fees for U8-U10 are $85 per child. Fees for U12 are $100 per child. This covers the jersey and the referee fees and also helps us save for new equipment. For example, each team will have enough soccer balls for every child to have their own ball at practice.

Team participation is based on birth year (not grade). For 2025, that meant...
Instructional (aka Starters, 3v3): 2020-2022 birthdays
U6 (aka Dribblers, 5v5): 2019 birthdays
U8 (aka Passers, 7v7): 2017 and 2018 birthdays 
U10 (aka Wings, 7v7): 2015 and 2016 birthdays
U12 (aka Strikers, 9v9): 2013 and 2014 birthdays

Instructional plays at Village of Glendale Park on Summit Ave (aka Summit Park) in both Spring and Fall
U6, U8, and U12 also play at Village of Glendale Park in the Fall
U10  plays at Saunders Field in the Fall
U6-U12 play at Washington Park in the Spring

Please reach out to [email protected] with questions about our soccer program.

Kevin Carroll
Volunteer Soccer Coordinator
Glendale Youth Sports