Author: Matt Hermann
Ever since Madison Pro Soccer’s launch, excitement surrounding the new team has been hard to miss. Madisonians have been waiting for a professional soccer team to call their own – one that can represent them as a soccer city.
Where did all the enthusiasm for the world’s game come from? For residents who grew up in the area, a big part of the answer is MAYSA.
The Madison Area Youth Soccer Association (MAYSA) is one of the main sources of the region’s bond with the global game. Launched in 1966 to provide a playing structure for 10 youth clubs in the area, MAYSA now presides over 40 clubs, with tens of thousands of kids of all ages playing in spring and fall leagues at the competitive and recreational level.
From Platteville to Beaver Dam to downtown Madison, anyone who comes of age in south central Wisconsin is likely to have his or her first experience playing organized soccer at a MAYSA club. And as yesterday’s girls and boys have grown up and had kids of their own, some have brought the next generation into the game as parents; others stay close to soccer through adult leagues which play at MAYSA facilities like Reddan Soccer Park.
Named for MAYSA founder Bill Reddan, the 60-acre complex tucked between rolling hills on the outskirts of Verona is a key site for soccer in the region. Nearly a quarter of a million people visit Reddan to play, coach, referee or cheer at one of the more than 1,200 games that take place there each year.
Even in the break between MAYSA’s spring and fall seasons, Reddan stays busy. One summer morning, Verona Area High School’s boys’ team practiced on the Irwin A. and Robert D Goodman pitch. Outfield players split into three groups, drilling around orange cones on the facility’s main field; at the other end, goalkeepers worked on their skills. Later, members of the girls’ team would join them, coaching kindergarten-age kids from the area in a summer soccer day camp.
Making sure the site serves as a central spot for as many different groups as it can in Madison’s soccer community is Chris Lay’s goal.
The MAYSA Executive Director says, “Tonight we’ve got a co-ed adult league on the main field. Two games at a time, one on each side of the halfway line. They’re anywhere from their mid-twenties up to 50 years old. And then over on other fields we’ll have 10 and 11-year-olds practicing.”
As Lay begins to talk about Madison’s future as a home to professional soccer for the first time, he gestures to signs at Reddan honoring inductees to the Madison Area Soccer Hall of Fame – men and women who played key roles in growing soccer in the area.
“I’d like to think that a lot of these people will view this as a culmination of some of their life’s work,” Lay says.
He mentions the hours these legends put in to build soccer in Madison – hours on top of those spent playing and coaching. Time spent in cars driving to faraway tournaments to represent their clubs, making countless phone calls, ensuring playing surfaces were ready for action by cutting the grass with their own mowers.
“Had it not been for their vision and their work – some of which may have seemed totally futile at times – getting a pro team started like this couldn’t have happened.”
Lay says he hopes Madison’s other soccer landmark can become an even bigger rallying point for MAYSA kids once Madison Pro Soccer is up and running.
“I remember when I was 12 years old or so, we got to play a game at Breese Stevens. Our team was so excited. It’s an even better venue now, and in a year it’s going to be incredible,” he says.
“A pro team playing at Breese Stevens is something we can all share,” he says. “Cheering them on, celebrating the good soccer, hopefully seeing some diversity on the field.”
He says he hopes MAYSA kids might get the chance to attend clinics with players and coaches on the new USL D3 team, as well as learn about the game and its nuances simply through watching – becoming regular match-goers and helping build a brand new grass-roots soccer fan culture in Madison.
“Kids love to play, but they’re always that little bit more motivated after they go to a professional level game. It’s going to be inspiring.”
Author: Matt Hermann
Ever since Madison Pro Soccer’s launch, excitement surrounding the new team has been hard to miss. Madisonians have been waiting for a professional soccer team to call their own – one that can represent them as a soccer city.
Where did all the enthusiasm for the world’s game come from? For residents who grew up in the area, a big part of the answer is MAYSA.
The Madison Area Youth Soccer Association (MAYSA) is one of the main sources of the region’s bond with the global game. Launched in 1966 to provide a playing structure for 10 youth clubs in the area, MAYSA now presides over 40 clubs, with tens of thousands of kids of all ages playing in spring and fall leagues at the competitive and recreational level.
From Platteville to Beaver Dam to downtown Madison, anyone who comes of age in south central Wisconsin is likely to have his or her first experience playing organized soccer at a MAYSA club. And as yesterday’s girls and boys have grown up and had kids of their own, some have brought the next generation into the game as parents; others stay close to soccer through adult leagues which play at MAYSA facilities like Reddan Soccer Park.
Named for MAYSA founder Bill Reddan, the 60-acre complex tucked between rolling hills on the outskirts of Verona is a key site for soccer in the region. Nearly a quarter of a million people visit Reddan to play, coach, referee or cheer at one of the more than 1,200 games that take place there each year.
Even in the break between MAYSA’s spring and fall seasons, Reddan stays busy. One summer morning, Verona Area High School’s boys’ team practiced on the Irwin A. and Robert D Goodman pitch. Outfield players split into three groups, drilling around orange cones on the facility’s main field; at the other end, goalkeepers worked on their skills. Later, members of the girls’ team would join them, coaching kindergarten-age kids from the area in a summer soccer day camp.
Making sure the site serves as a central spot for as many different groups as it can in Madison’s soccer community is Chris Lay’s goal.
The MAYSA Executive Director says, “Tonight we’ve got a co-ed adult league on the main field. Two games at a time, one on each side of the halfway line. They’re anywhere from their mid-twenties up to 50 years old. And then over on other fields we’ll have 10 and 11-year-olds practicing.”
As Lay begins to talk about Madison’s future as a home to professional soccer for the first time, he gestures to signs at Reddan honoring inductees to the Madison Area Soccer Hall of Fame – men and women who played key roles in growing soccer in the area.
“I’d like to think that a lot of these people will view this as a culmination of some of their life’s work,” Lay says.
He mentions the hours these legends put in to build soccer in Madison – hours on top of those spent playing and coaching. Time spent in cars driving to faraway tournaments to represent their clubs, making countless phone calls, ensuring playing surfaces were ready for action by cutting the grass with their own mowers.
“Had it not been for their vision and their work – some of which may have seemed totally futile at times – getting a pro team started like this couldn’t have happened.”
Lay says he hopes Madison’s other soccer landmark can become an even bigger rallying point for MAYSA kids once Madison Pro Soccer is up and running.
“I remember when I was 12 years old or so, we got to play a game at Breese Stevens. Our team was so excited. It’s an even better venue now, and in a year it’s going to be incredible,” he says.
“A pro team playing at Breese Stevens is something we can all share,” he says. “Cheering them on, celebrating the good soccer, hopefully seeing some diversity on the field.”
He says he hopes MAYSA kids might get the chance to attend clinics with players and coaches on the new USL D3 team, as well as learn about the game and its nuances simply through watching – becoming regular match-goers and helping build a brand new grass-roots soccer fan culture in Madison.
“Kids love to play, but they’re always that little bit more motivated after they go to a professional level game. It’s going to be inspiring.”
