Akron Soccer League History
Today, the Akron Soccer League is a flourishing community program that has provided countless young people with healthy fun and lessons in teamwork, discipline, competition and sportsmanship. The history of the league, which started in 1979, is a lesson in how a community can pull together. It literally took a village (plus a township)!
The idea started from two families, Tom and Mary Valentine and Marty and Kathy Belscher, whose boys played in the Clarence Soccer League. In early 1979, an organizational meeting took place to formulate a local league. A group of interested parents formed a working unit to find a field, find nets, build goals, find a supplier for uniforms, balls, bags, flags and other necessities for the league.
Their goal was to have teams ready for the spring of 1979. This was a huge undertaking. The interested families each chipped in ten dollars and committees were formed and work began. They designed a registration form, planned the registration process, advertised in the local papers, ordered uniforms, recruited more parents for coaching and referee positions, and went to training sessions offered by the Clarence League. Ken Cummings, County Park Superintendent, arranged to provide a furrowed, stony, unused former cornfield with a dirt driveway as a field. Other community members mowed down the scrub brush and weeds. Cold Spring Construction happily seeded the field. Goals were built with contributed scrap pipes that were supported with concrete.
It all came together, on Saturday morning, May 12, 1979. The 120 registered kids arrived in new brightly colored uniforms. Two games were played in the older division, two more in the younger division, all on the one and only field.
The league has continued to the present day with many fields and hosting a seasonal tournament hosting about 100 teams each year. It has blossomed into a community investment for its children.
