[News Release] – The Board of Directors of the Newhall, Valencia & Stevenson Ranch branch of the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) has announced the introduction of their new Valencia United (VU) Club Program, bringing AYSO Club soccer to Santa Clarita for the 2014 fall season.

AYSO Region 678 has served the Newhall, Valencia & Stevenson Ranch areas for 25 years, and the AYSO National Organization is celebrating 50 years of service.  Region 678’s stated vision is to provide a world class soccer program that enriches the lives of our Santa Clarita children.  It accomplishes this by developing and delivering, a youth soccer program which promotes a fun, family environment, based on AYSO’s Six Philosophies of, Everyone Plays, Balanced Teams, Open Registration, Positive Coaching, Good Sportsmanship and Player Development.

“The VU Club Program has been created in order to provide a higher level of competitive play, with an emphasis on making it affordable for the families of the Santa Clarita Valley,” announced Louis Chevalier, Regional Commissioner of 678. “We certainly understand how families can be financially impacted when confronted with decisions regarding club sports.  There is also a certain level of pressure felt by players to have club circuit playing experience, to better their chances of making High School teams.  We don’t believe kids should be denied an opportunity to compete at higher levels, simply because of exorbitant fees.  We also don’t believe parents should feel pressured into these decisions in order to improve their child’s chances of competing at the High School level.  I’ve heard of families paying thousands of dollars to join club programs, who never saw their child get quality playing time.  We felt compelled, as a Region, to develop an affordable, yet equally competitive program.  With AYSO’s core philosophy guarantying playing time for all members, our program already stands apart from existing programs.  These VU Club teams will compete in the Cal South gaming circuit against teams whose organizations are presently charging upwards of three to four times the projected cost of our program.”  Chevalier further adds that Region 678’s extended play teams have been extremely successful in the past few years, and that the Region just won two State Championship titles last month.

With the addition of the VU Club Program, Region 678 now offers a program suitable for all levels of play.  The Core Program is offered to all kids between the ages of 4 and 19.  For players between the ages of 9 and 15 looking for a higher level of competiveness than what the core program offers, Region 678 offers an EXTRA Program, with teams competing against inter-Sectional AYSO EXTRA teams from Southern California.  Region 678 also offers a VIP (Very Important Player) Program for children and adults whose physical or mental disabilities make it difficult to successfully participate on mainstream teams.  VIP teams may include players who are blind or visually impaired, players who are amputees or with conditions that impair mobility, mentally or emotionally challenged players, and/ or players with autism, Down syndrome or cerebral palsy

Registration for the fall 2014 season is now open.  For more information on AYSO Region 678, contact Louis Chevalier, Regional Commissioner commissioner@ayso678.org or visit www.ayso678.org.