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Nevada State Youth Soccer Association

Youth soccer was started in Nevada when the Las Vegas Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) chose the sport for their young church members. The church Nuns would dye sweatshirts for uniforms and use volley balls when soccer balls could not be found. Goal nets could not be found and were not used during the first season which began in October of 1965. On that date, five teams ranging in size from 15 to 20 players started competition. About 85 kids started play under FIFA Rules which were provided by a National Committee member by the name of Jimmy Niotis. Mr. Niotis used his private funds to print thousands of pamphlets. The black pamphlets were for the referees and the white pamphlets were for the players. These were then distributed among all of the State Soccer Associations. No other soccer supplies were available in the United States at that time. Referees consisted of a few church volanteers who frequently couldn't show up for the games.

By 1967, two more teams were added and by 1974, the number of players had increased to over 1200. Coaching and referee training programs had been established and the City Park Department had become involved, helping to add more soccer fields to the program. The Youth Division of the Nevada State Soccer Association (NSSA) became the Nevada State Youth Soccer Association (NSYSA) in 1974. It also became an affiliate of the United States Youth Soccer Association (USYSA). The then current youth commissioner of the NSSA (Mr. Derek E. Engstrom) was appointed as chaiman of the new youth orginization.

A copy of the Rules and Bylaws of the California Youth Soccer Association North were provided as a template for the Rules and Bylaws of the NSYSA. The new rules and bylaws were then submitted to Mr. Donald Greer who later became USYSA chairman.

The brand new USYSA was accepted as a division of the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) in July, 1974. The USSF was later divided into three divisions. These were Adult, Youth and Professional. A weighted voting system was adopted so that each division had the same total number of votes.