The past year has been a great year for Utah Youth Soccer Association. We have enjoyed success at many levels. The association continues to grow its membership especially in the recreation program. We have successfully reached out to some of the outlying areas and continue to communicate with them to help soccer grow. One project that has been given significant attention over the past year is "Soccer in a Box". This project is currently in its last revision. Soccer in a Box is a program that will help new programs get started. It provides step by step instructions on how to start a recreation program. It provides specific detail such as who to contact in the community, how to work with the community leaders to use fields and much more.

A large portion of the growth is contributed to the dedication of the amazing volunteers. Because of people's willingness to volunteer at many different levels, Utah Youth Soccer is able to keep costs down and continue to provide a positive soccer experience. The quality of coaching continues to improve. It shows in the level of play that our athletes can compete. UYSA coach's dedication is second to none.

Our members have had the great experience of watching professional soccer. Through our partnership agreement with REAL many of our members have had the opportunity to meet members of the REAL team. Our players, coaches and administrators have participated in many free clinics. Several members of our Association also had a chance to see Women's soccer at its best when the Spiders hosted the Final Four of the Women's Professional Soccer League National Championships. Utah Youth Soccer enjoys a great partnership with the Spiders organization.

The Board or Directors recently passed a policy that all assignors must use the ADG system to assign State Competition games. Because this program runs concurrent with the schedule, it will save the assignor the time of having to re-create the schedule. The system will be able to provide the assignor and the association with many different reports. Because of the many tracking features, we will be able to hold the referees accountable for no shows, reports filed in a timely manner, and allow for feedback. It will help the assignors to be sure that the level of the referee is consistent with the level of play. This should help assignors to make sure that they have the referee with the correct qualifications assigned to each match. It will also allow the assignors to know what referees are available, which referees are accepting matches, etc.

This past year we allowed committee chairs to govern their own programs. This is key to the success of the program. By allowing others the flexibility to make decisions within their respective programs we have seen growth, improvement and better communication. State Cup under the direction Bruce Cuppett had a successful tournament this past fall. He secured the best fields in the state located in Utah County. The tournament committee under the direction of Linda Kay Messenger has created unity among the different tournament directors. They worked together to develop common procedures that all tournaments must follow to be sanctioned by UYSA.

The committee with some of the largest challenges is the Disciplinary Committee. The number of cases escalated this year. Each situation has been handled with professionalism and equality. Gerrilyn Mason did a great job this past year and we thank her for her dedication. Because of family commitments, she has stepped down and we now look forward to working with John Johnson. John has great understanding of the rules and dedication to justice.

We have a tremendous office staff that is always willing to serve the membership. They have each contributed to the success of our program. Our State Technical Director Greg Maas has continued to improve our coaching education. He has brought unprecedented reorganization to the ODP program and to the UYSA coaching staff. He has invested considerable time doing free training clinics for our recreation players. Stephanie Kirtley keeps everything and everyone organized. She is helpful to all that call. Corinne Piazza makes sure that we are up to date with all the soccer news across the country. Amy Oakeson has a difficult job but does it with a smile, SCHEDULES! She schedules around 3000 games a season! Colleen Koelliker (master designer) keeps everyone informed by updating our website.

The past two years have had their share of challenges but I feel that I have met those challenges with a positive and willing attitude to work though them, learn from them and make things better. We must continually look at how we do business and ways to adapt to growth. The board is always looking at ways to make it easier for leagues and clubs to run an effective program. We must continue to allow flexibility within the rules to allow each membership organization to do what is best for the communities in which they live