ABOUT US

ORIGIN STORY

Prior to our origin, the founding members of Armstrong East Soccer Club were part of a youth soccer program for our children located about 30 minutes North from Dayton, PA.  We were parents, referees, coaches, and even board members for this program, which operated as a starting point for the children of that particular community.   The program, like many others, was there to grow players into their high school with the skills and valuable life lessons that youth sports teach.  While participating in that league, it was clear of a guiding principle of benefit towards the program’s own hometown, and however reasonable and expected this benefit was, it was not a benefit to our own hometown’s children, parents, high school, and broader community. 

After several years of dedication to that group, we (the founding members) started to recognize some fundamental areas where we would differ if we had our own soccer program. Therefore, in October of 2023, we began to research starting our own league, in our own towns, with better methods of coaching and development from our perspective.  This led us to filing our Articles of Incorporation and receiving our own EIN number on the 17th of October 2023.  In the early part of November we held a community Informational Meeting where we shared our vision and plans, as well as gauged the local interest.  Then, on December 12, 2023, we held our first official public meeting to discuss and vote on our own “Non-profit Bylaws”, vote and elect our inaugural board of leaders, and embark on a plan to make this a reality.

At the forefront, we wanted to offer a youth soccer program that serves our communities within Armstrong and Indiana counties of Pennsylvania, USA.  In order to ensure that happened, during our first meeting, we set a course for our future by establishing a Mission Statement to guide our decisions, it goes like this:

Besides wanting to benefit our own communities, examples that we felt would differ our program from others were:

1. Having a league wide camps at the start of every season to ensure that every child was taught our baseline principals and skills for their appropriate age.

2. Scouting those camps to ensure that no one team will suffer demoralizing losses or dominating wins every game.

3. Holding coaching seminars where we would coach the coaches how to bring their team of children along during each season to meet the goals we would provide per age group.

We started in the spring of 2024 with a clinic and quickly followed up with our first full season in the fall of 2024.  To pull that off, our team of hard working volunteers held numerous fundraisers throughout the year to purchase much needed equipment such as nets/goals, balls, field painting and maintenance equipment, ball bags, cones, jerseys, concessions, and referee savings.  In addition to these tools for the game of soccer, we were able to purchase much needed insurance and a training provider for clearances.  The combined experience of our staff allowed us to understand what was needed and where to start looking for it.  

Beyond our fundraisers to the public, we also sought after sponsorships from local businesses and donors to assist in funding our efforts to grow quickly and match the participation that we anticipated.  That effort led to the ability to further grow and expand our operation in purchasing a storage shed, along with more equipment & supplies to improve our playing area and facilities.

There was, and continues to be a high degree of excitement in our communities driving things forward to make this league happen.  Our geographic area has not had a youth soccer league of its own, and the pride and excitement for the sport has been a lit fuse inside of our growth.  Formerly, close to half the area our high school pulls from had been so distant from a youth soccer league that they have decided to join other youth sports instead.  But as we've become established, and word has spread, so that that enrollment that we anticipated!  What once was a dream, has now become a reality; and this league has not only provided a base of exercise, commitment, and team dedication and development for our children, but also injected life into these communities on gamedays.

What started in the off-season fall of 2023 has now grown into a league that has consistently grown each season!  As we grow, we will need more volunteers to help it run smoothly.  Normally, when leagues grow larger, the product diminishes because of the need to pull any willing volunteer with or without experience.  This is why we early on recognized the need for coach and volunteer development that's able to uphold a consistent product year in and year out, no matter how large we become!

After a few seasons of hard work and dedication by those involved in laying a blueprint, we hope this league lives long past us, providing our area’s children an opportunity to gather, challenge, learn, compete, and cheer.  We hope it provides a place of memories and joy for those children, who will one day themselves volunteer to help run the league and enroll children of their own!