SFYS Youth Advisory Council

 

What is a YAC?!

The purpose of the SFYS YAC (Youth Advisory Council) is to give youth players, referees, junior coaches and junior referee mentors - the very reason our org exists! - a voice to represent themselves and their peers and be seen and heard by adults in positions of power. The SFYS YAC members help determine what is critical for our broader soccer and youth sports community to learn, consider, understand ... and how to make soccer in San Francisco a better experience for all.

SFYS understands that youth sport doesn't work without a solid foundation, with a connected community and effective network of integrated programming. To that end, SF Youth Soccer is pleased to announce a partnership with Jude Moore and Queer Youth in Action (QYA) to facilitate our inaugural SFYS Youth Advisory Committee (YAC). Jude is bilingual, a former teacher and a former D1 and current adult soccer player.

As well, the SFYS YAC is a place of community for youth members to take a breath in a safe and comfortable space, making it possible to share any painful or difficult dialogue: our SFYS YAC is rooted in transformative and restorative justice practices and ultimately is about providing space to think about how to connect community and bring joy to all.

SFYS Youth Advisory Council is a formal, structured working group, moderated by Queer Youth In Action (QYA) founder Jude Moore. Understanding and valuing the intersectional identities of young people in sport, SFYS YAC is culturally competent, trauma informed, and takes into account data and lived experience from diverse demographics empower youth to build a culture that ensures that they feel celebrated, seen, and heard. YAC Members sign a Community Contract, each meeting follows a prescribed agenda and the resultant research / workshops / recommendations are reported to the SFYS Board and offered to the public at large.

To date, our Youth Advisory Council members, ages 11-18, include recreational and competitive players, youth referees, a junior coach and a junior referee mentor. In the first 6 months of the formation of this group, our youngest member participated on a national panel with US Youth Soccer during Pride Month and together the group has developed and hosted multiple public workshop projects.

SF Youth Soccer in PlaySFYS Youth Advisory Council
2022-24 Highlights

  • Mental Health in Soccer Workshop
  • LGBTQ+ Panelist with US Youth Soccer
  • Undocumented + DACA Players & Coaches 101 Workshop
  • Spotlighting Indigenous, Black and Latinx Players
  • Presenting Youth Ref Initiative to bring more equity to youth reffing
  • Launching SFYS YAC Alumni Network

SFYS Youth Advisory Council Volunteers at FOGGOLAZO! 23

Join SFYS YAC!

Scan the QR code at left, or head to tinyurl.sfysyacapp.com to fill out an application.

  • Questions? Email judemoore@queeryouthinaction.org

About our Moderator Jude Moore
Jude has a decade of experience in classroom teaching, leadership, and professional development in middle and high schools in New York City, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Jude also designed and directed Community Outreach for a non-profit that supports queer and trans youth throughout Southern California. With this professional passion, along with her experience as an elite queer athlete playing D1 soccer, she was inspired to found the organization Queer Youth in Action (QYA) to help create learning and exploratory spaces — in sport and school — that were what she needed when she was younger. Jude lives with their wife and border collie in Long Beach, CA.

SFYS Equity programs support both the playing leagues and the SF soccer community at large and are free and available to all SFYS participants as well as all interested San Francisco youth.

SFYS Youth Advisory Council (YAC) 
is a cohort of 8-15 members per year, but their workshops, presentations and volunteer work @ FOGGOLAZO! benefit the whole of the San Francisco soccer community and their recommendations are brought to the board, fair play and newsletters so that parents/adults who are part of the league are able to view through the lens of their children via the YAC initiatives.

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