US Youth Soccer and Fox Soccer Channel Join Forces to Promote Soccer in the United States
FSC Becomes Official Television Partner Of US Youth Soccer

Fox Soccer Channel and the country’s largest youth sports organization -- the United States Youth Soccer Association (US Youth Soccer) – today entered into a sweeping partnership to create programming, marketing and grassroots community initiatives to provide America’s rapidly growing youth soccer community with unprecedented access to their sport.

Fox Soccer Channel becomes the official television partner for US Youth Soccer, a nationwide body with close to one million volunteers, administrators and dedicated coaches; as well as more than 3 million youth players between the ages of five and 19. US Youth Soccer represents the single largest member of the US Soccer Federation, the governing body for soccer in the United States.

“US Youth Soccer has strived to instill the very best ideals within our sport for more than 30 years running,” says David Messersmith, president of US Youth Soccer. “This partnership promises to increase participation in youth soccer and, with it, the emotional, mental and physical development of so many millions of kids every season.”

Starting this month, Fox Soccer Channel will kick-off The US Youth Soccer Show, a monthly half-hour US Youth Soccer magazine program. In August the network will also televise the 2006 US Youth Soccer National Championships. Additionally, Fox Soccer Channel will soon launch a series of co-branded minute-long interstitials with coaching and parenting tips, as well as US Youth Soccer public service announcements specially created for Youth Soccer month each September.

US Youth Soccer will likewise provide Fox Soccer Channel access and promotion throughout its many US Youth Soccer Events nationwide. This includes the US Youth Soccer National Championship Series; Kohl’s US Youth Soccer American Cup; the US Youth Soccer Workshop and Coaches Convention; and across the well-trafficked US Youth Soccer website.

“This is a giant leap forward for soccer in the United States,” says David Sternberg, executive vice president and general manager for Fox Soccer Channel. “Our goal is to continue to build upon the tremendous advances in youth soccer participation and translate that into an ever-greater fan base for all of soccer in the US long-term. We are very pleased to provide the millions of youth soccer players, the hundreds of dedicated coaches, and all of the parents and volunteers who support them, with the well-deserved exposure that Fox Soccer Channel and our related media properties might provide.”

The US Youth Soccer National Championship Series is home to the James P. McGuire Cup, the oldest youth sports trophy in the country. First awarded in 1935, the US Youth Soccer National Championship Series begins with more than 10,000 local teams, competing in one of twelve different age groups. These teams represent each state, and then competitors earn their way to respective state and regional championships en route to a “final four” berth in the US Youth Soccer National Championship.

The US Youth Soccer Show – June Episode
Friday, June 23 – 6:00pm ET
Saturday, June 24 - 6:30pm ET
Sunday, July 2 – 6:00pm ET