From KCRW, I'm Bob Carlson, and this is football confidential, stories of soccer in the

international city, Los Angeles.

It's a special production from the unfictional podcast, documentaries, true stories, and radio movies.

In the US, youth soccer is huge, one of the most popular athletic league activities for kids,

even more popular than people actually going to live professional matches,

although that's changing.

And all that began nearly 60 years ago

with AYSO, the original Youth Soccer League, formed right here

in Southern California in the suburban city of Torrance.

This episode is called Soccer City.

Visit a park or a school athletic field on a Saturday or Sunday in the fall,

and what you'll see is probably the best example of a truly

homegrown American soccer culture. Boys and girls from kindergarten and up playing

mostly on small fields with small goals.

The sidelines are filled with parents fully invested in the game.

And they'll be orange slices at halftime.

Even now that's the main association a lot of people still have with soccer

as a recreational kids game.

AYSO, the American Youth Soccer Organization, is where all of this started.

It's now nationwide, run mostly by parents and volunteers, but since the beginning in the

South Bay of Los Angeles,

AYSO has been the on-ramp for American kids to learn about soccer.

...