US Youth Soccer Presents the 2025 Grassroots Symposium & Leadership Weekend
Event Information
Event Location: Kansas City, MO | September 25-28
US Youth Soccer is looking forward to welcoming you to Kansas City September 25 – 28 for the 2025 Summit Week. This email contains the details of the event and information about what to expect so that you can begin to plan your travel to Kansas City.
Empowering Soccer Practitioners:
The heart of the 2025 Grassroots Symposium lies in equipping soccer practitioners – program administrators, executive directors, board members, and coaches – with the tools they need to create programs deeply rooted in inclusivity and belonging. Our goal is to empower those who shape the future of youth soccer, ensuring that every child, regardless of background or ability, finds a place to thrive within the soccer community.
What’s New for the 2025 Summit Week?
For the past two years, the USYS Leadership Summit and the Grassroots Symposium have occurred in isolation, as separate events. This year, the two events will take place concurrently Friday, September 26 through Sunday, September 28, bringing together leaders from state associations, community-based soccer programs, and barrier-breaking organizations to collectively drive the change in the soccer ecosystem.
By combining the Leadership Summit and Grassroots Symposium into one weekend, you will have the unique opportunity to engage across a wide array of topics, network with peers from all corners of the soccer landscape, and select sessions that best align with your roles, goals, and organizational needs. Each session will clearly indicate the intended audience, whether geared toward high-level strategic discussions for state association leadership or hands-on workshops for community-based program leaders, empowering participants to curate a personalized experience.
Registration will open on April 10th. Jessie Nance and Sari Rose will present on the state calls in April to walk state associations through the registration process and answer any questions.
Schedule
Please review the tentative schedule for the 2025 US Youth Soccer Grassroots Symposium. All items are subject to change.
Thursday, September 25
| Time | Activity | Location | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7:00AM – 2:00PM | Golf Tournament (Early AM Start) | Fred Arbanas Golf Course | Open to all members and extended network of US Youth Soccer. |
| 5:30PM – 8:30PM | USYS-Hosted Evening Social | USYS Hosted Social | Squatters Pub | Open to all Golf Tournament participants, Leadership Summit attendees, and Grassroots Symposium attendees |
Friday, September 26
| Time | Activity | Location | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9am-4:30pm | Grassroots Symposium & Leadership Weekend | Each session will clearly indicate the intended audience, whether geared toward high-level strategic discussions for state association leadership or hands-on workshops for community-based program leaders, empowering participants to curate a personalized experience. | |
| 6:30-9:30pm | Off-Site Social | Chicken n Pickle | Open to all attendees. Pickle Ball tournament option. |
Sunday, September 28
| Time | Activity | Location | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9am-1:00pm | Grassroots Symposium & Leadership Weekend | | Each session will clearly indicate the intended audience, whether geared toward high-level strategic discussions for state association leadership or hands-on workshops for community-based program leaders, empowering participants to curate a personalized experience. |
Registration and Hotel Information
More information coming soon.
When and where will the Symposium be hosted?
More information coming soon.
Is there a room block with discounted rates?
More information coming soon.
2025 Grassroots Symposium Event FAQ
The 2025 Grassroots Symposium will host leaders from state associations and community-based nonprofits running innovative soccer programming from across the country. Through carefully curated plenary sessions and workshop sessions, attendees will have ample time to engage in working groups with other stakeholders and develop action plans. Expert facilitators will guide attendees through working sessions where time is dedicated to building relationships, strategic planning, and shared understanding of how to grow the game of soccer at all levels in this country. Spending time in working groups will allow all attendees to better understand the barriers to access, and the resources available to reduce silos and build stronger programming across the country, in a localized context.
US Youth Soccer and its advisors understand the importance of using collaboration to advance the opportunities for all young players and their families. We look forward to having the best and brightest minds in attendance at the 2025 Grassroots Symposium. In addition to structured content, attendees will benefit from informal networking moments including USYS hosted happy hours and meals.
If you are involved with a soccer-based youth serving organization, or an organization that runs soccer programming, we highly encourage you to attend. Sessions will be tailored to individuals that are decision-makers at the administrative level, fundraisers and development personnel, and programmatic leadership.
Depending on the size of your organization, we recommend 1-4 members of your team plan on joining the event. We will have up to four concurrent workshops running at a time. There will be ample work time in both the plenary sessions and the workshop sessions so your team can engage in strategic planning and action steps to take the work back to your local communities!
Reach out to Jessie Nance (jessie@luminanceconsulting.com) to inquire about group rates.
More information coming soon.
More information coming soon.
US Youth strives to create an inclusive and respectful space for all attendees. To do so, we have incorporated several resources to increase accessibility, including language interpreters if requested, all-gender restrooms, physical and emotional accessibility resources, fragrance-free spaces, and more.
During the registration process, registrants are given the opportunity to express their accessibility & disability needs. If there is a specific request in which you need a reasonable accommodation, please reach out to the US Youth team.
We will provide more information as we get closer to the conference.
Follow us on social media for updates: @USYouthSoccer | #Grassroots2024
