Did you know that soccer has been played in Sault Ste. Marie continually, except for the World War Two years since 1888/89.

The games were played on the Agricultural Grounds which is the present location of Queen Elizabeth Park. In the 1890’s teams from the Sault played in the New Ontario League. These teams came from the small towns strung along the north Shore of Lake Huron. This league made use of the new railroad. Teams would leave early on Sunday morning, play their game out of town and return on Sunday evening.  During the week they would play among themselves at the Agricultural Park.

Fast Forward

The Sault Youth Soccer League was founded in October of 1990, based on the principles and operating system contained in the "Blueprint for Change" document initiated in July 1987 and approved by S.A.S.A. (Sault Amateur Soccer Association), the District Association, and its membership in January 1988.

The "League" constitution was approved at the first Annual General Meeting (AGM) on March 19, 1991. The League obtained "Club" status in March 1993 requiring a separate club constitution in order to increase its voting privileges and better represent youth soccer at S.A.S.A District meetings. The two "Club and League" constitutions were combined and approved at the March 24, 1994 AGM. The last amendments were approved at a special general meeting on May 21, 1996.

In January of 2023, S.A.S.A became the Greater North Soccer Association and this is the first step to amalgamate the 21 district associations into six larger districts.  

Located in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, SYSC is a member of the Sault Amateur Soccer Association (SASA) and is affiliated with the Ontario Soccer Association (OSA) and the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA).

The Sault Youth Soccer Club operates a recreational soccer program for some 1800 children and youth from ages 5 to 18 in "Grassroots" and "Youth" divisions. The club also provides a "Civics" program known as Soo United for those players who wish to develop their skills at a more competitive level. Players of these development teams play exclusively in this program and represent the city and their age division in various competitions in both Canada and the United States.

After 22 years of dedicated service, Shirley Robertson has retired from the Sault Youth Soccer Club.
Shirley was hired when the club was still known as the Sault Amateur Soccer Association (S.A.S.A). During her career, Shirley has been the voice behind all of the phone calls and has manually registered every player that played soccer in Sault Ste. Marie, ordered jerseys, trophies and organized the end of the year soccer banquets.
“We are going to miss Shirley’s dedication to the sport of soccer in Sault Ste. Marie. She has always been there for us. We are truly going to miss her” said Steve Mazzuca, President of SYSC.
“I remember my first day on the job. Cathy Trevisan said, I want you to file all of these papers. That’s where it all began. Then the phones started ringing and never stopped.” Robertson recalled. “Working with the staff meant a lot to me. Each year the staff would turn over and I enjoyed meeting all of the new faces that would walk in.”
SYSC will be announcing its new Office Manager in the next few weeks.
Shirley, we were blessed to have you on our team and wish you nothing but love during your next chapter.