Updated 3/11/08  Keeping it all in perspective! Youth soccer is taught in almost every community throughout the world. Fortunately soccer has been around a long time and it is well organized for both youth and adult. It is one of the few games on the planet where almost all organizations in all countries participate and function together.  FIFA is the international governing body of soccer on the planet. The organization is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland and was founded in 1903. FIFA stands for Federation of International Football Association and is responsible for organizing major world tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup which is held once every four years. It also has a major voice in how the 'Laws of the Game' are written and interpreted. FIFA makes decisions as a congress with one vote going to a representative of each national federation. Currently there are 208 member nations which is larger than the United Nations or the International Olympic Committee. FIFA has a President and an executive board that is elected by the representatives. The current President is Joseph Blatter.
 US Soccer Federation (USSF) is the name for our governing body here in the US. We joined FIFA clear back in 1913. USSF overseas all professional, amateur, and youth soccer in the United States. Major League Soccer and United Soccer League First Division are professional league examples. Our Seattle Sounders are in the USL First Division and just won the league championship this last fall. The city of Seattle was recently granted a major league soccer franchise which is scheduled to begin in the 2009 season!
US Youth soccer is a Division of USSF and is the governing body for youth soccer in the US which formally organized in 1974. Currently there are over 7 million kids under the age of  19 registered and playing here in the US registered in over 7000 local soccer clubs! Washington State Youth Soccer Association is just one of 55 member associations across the US. WSYSA is then further divided into 6 Regional Districts. Here on Whidbey Island we belong to District 1 which covers everything west of the cascades and north of Seattle. District 1 is also divided into geographic associations and here on Whidbey we have our own member association of WSYSA and it is called Whidbey Island Youth Soccer Association (WIYSA), pronounced "we-sah". Our association is made up of three clubs. North, Central, and South Whidbey Soccer Clubs. Thus we are each a very small fish in a huge ocean! It is important to keep the big picture in mind. Our mission with WISL is to facilitate the joining of resources from all three island clubs so as to provide fertile ground for coaches to teach the game of soccer in a way that is fun and keeps kids clamoring for more! Along the way they will benefit from regular physical exercise, understanding and appreciating the unique benefits of working as a team member, learning how to deal with emotions that are new and exciting, and learning to be active, positive thinkers in finding solutions to the many dynamic challenges that the game of soccer presents every second! They will gain physically, emotionally, socially, and intellectually. There is a good reason it the most popular game in the world. Don't be shy immerse yourself in the sport! FIFA (World)  US Soccer Federation (just 1 of 208 members) US Youth Soccer (a subdivision of US Soccer) WSYSA (just one of 55 member associations within US Youth Soccer) District 1 (one of seven districts within WSYSA) WIYSA ( one of seven associations within district 1) NWSC CWSC SWYSC | 
