The mission of the Southern California Youth Soccer Organization is “to provide Latino youth from disadvantaged communities throughout Southern California with opportunities for athletic, educational, and cultural development through the sport of soccer”. We facilitate quality developmental and competitive sports programs and use soccer as a magnet to develop higher levels of academic achievement and career expectations for a broad cross-section of Latino youth in Southern California.

History
The Southern California Youth Soccer Organization (“SCYSO”) a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, emerged as a response to the dearth of athletic, educational and cultural opportunities that exist for Latino youth in Southern California. Since soccer is the number one sport in the Latino community, SCYSO uses soccer as a way to provide youth with skills to play a sport and as a means of developing skills for life.

SCYSO was established in 1998 by founder Hugo Salcedo, a former Olympian in soccer and a current executive in the world soccer federation (FIFA). Under the direction of Mr. Salcedo and Executive Director Joe Supe, and with funding support from the Amateur Athletic Foundation, US Soccer Foundation and the LA Auto Show, SCYSO has experienced steady growth, and has already surpassed many of its initial goals and objectives.