Building on several years of strong growth, the AYSO district in Roosevelt began its fall season Saturday with a day of games at Constitution Park in Roosevelt.

The volunteer organization registered more than 600 kids for fall play, according to assistant region director Andrea Harper.

“That's a little lower than we've had in the past two years,” said Harper, who is also coaching one of her son's teams.

She attributed the slight decline in player numbers to families moving away from the area over the past two years due to the economic downturn and its effect on the oil and gas industry. Another factor, at least in terms of older kids, is the improvement of the Union High school soccer teams and the emergence of competition soccer teams in the Roosevelt area, Harper said.

Still, the numbers remain strong in terms of younger players.

“We've had a lot of growth in the U-6 and U-8 divisions,” Harper said. “We have 18 teams in each division, but we have great sized teams.”

AYSO's mission is centered around six philosophies — everyone plays, balanced teams, open registration, positive coaching, good sportsmanship and player development. Harper said the district's staff works hard each year following registration to ensure that they create rosters made up of players with experience and those without. Finding coaches to work with the players, however, can be a more difficult task.

“Getting people to volunteer is tough,” Harper said.

One common concern Harper hears from people when they're asked to coach is that they know little or nothing about soccer. If that's all that's holding someone back, she said, they needn't worry.

“We 100 percent train you,” Harper said. “We offer coach training for every level we have.”

The fall season runs through Oct. 21, with games for all age levels taking place at the Constitution Park fields on most Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights and Saturdays. There will be no games this Saturday, due to Labor Day weekend.

For a full schedule of games, visit http://soccer.clubspaces.com/default_css.aspx. To find out more about AYSO, visit www.soccer.org.