Lee Mt. Vernon Soccer Club	LMVSC
			P.O. Box 10202 Alexandria, VA 22310

Interestingly, the LMVSC was born at a baseball game. During the summer of 1969, three gentlemen, John Walker from Hybla Valley, Dennis Smith from Hayfield and a mutual baseball friend from Hayfield, Walt Ulica, were discussing the need of youth soccer in our area. A consensus emerged that soccer didn't limit participation for lack of size or height and could be a tool for more participation by individual team players than some other youth sports. With this agreement, the Lee-Mt. Vernon Soccer Club was born.

The league is organized into Boys, Girls, 1st/2nd Grade (D Division), and Kindergarten (E Division) divisions. LMVSC teams are organized by the following grade groupings:

LMVSC is unique in that its teams are formed on the basis of neighborhood. This recognizes the importance of community and school on the social development of children. The spring of 1999 will usher in the fielding of teams to continue to participate in the Old Dominion Soccer League and now with The Washington Area Girls Soccer (WAGS) League and The National Capital Soccer League, which will provide a higher level of play for those children who are interested in focusing more on the sport. This will provide options to meet the needs of the community. The tremendous growth and size the Club can be attributed, in part, to the ability to respond to community needs and to the guaranteed participation of every player among his or her neighbors and friends.

Throughout its history LMVSC has contracted with independent assigners to obtain professional referee services. LMVSC has developed an in-house program for providing FIFA/USSF certification for adults and youth who are interested in becoming referees. These referees then work with the LMVSC assigner to officiate the league recreational as well as travel games. The funds for the referee pay as well as player uniforms and equipment are derived each year solely form the registration fees and donations paid by the players. Some major milestones of the Club are:

The emphasis of the Club has always been on participation, upon teaching basic soccer skills, good sportsmanship and team play. To that end, we have developed a league that provides for increased level of play to meet the needs of the players. The League is organized into recreational and travel programs.

In the Travel program, the objective is to groom the player for competition at a higher level than that found in the Recreational program. The program forms teams based upon a "try out" system which encourages players who have the desire, to compete against the finest teams in the Washington Metropolitan area and the nation. The objective of the LMVSC is to strike a balance between the Recreational and Travel programs that will enable all players to compete, to learn, and to enjoy the sport to the level that they desire.

Our number one priority is to romance the youngsters, to make them love the game. Let them enjoy every minute for its own sake. Let the rewards be the sheer joy of the play. Wherever feasible, keep the emphasis on winning or losing out of their way. Let them just fall in love with the ball and the comradery and with the challenges they represent. Let them work for the magic touch with the ball and the teamwork which gives unbelievable satisfaction. Skill proficiency becomes their pride and joy.