Founding of Pike Youth Soccer Club, Inc.

by Don Frye, Founder, First President, and 25 year volunteer.  11/7/02

"In 1975, my family moved to Texas where my son started playing soccer when he was 6 years old (1977).  In 1978, we transferred back to Indianapolis and I immediately started looking for someplace for him to play soccer.  Obviously, there was no place close to Pike Township, so I decided to start something.  I received a little support from the SAY (Soccer Association for Youth) organization in Ohio, but for the most part had to scramble on my own at first.  So in 1979, I went to Little League games and passed out flyers, telling people about a soccer club that did not really exist.

The first "registration" was at Guion Elementary.  I didn't have any backing from the school corporation, so I sat in front of the school in the back of my pickup truck.  Turns out it poured rain all day.  Miraculously I actually did have people drive up to my truck in the pouring rain and hand a stranger money so their kid could play soccer.

I talked to the school officials about using school property, but they seemed to think that this thing needed planning and could not get done in a few months.  After all, this was early summer 1979 and I wanted to start that fall.  That is why I went to the YWCA.  They agreed to let me use their property provided I pay $1.00 membership fee for all of the kids who registered.  I had the second registration at the "Y" and believe me there was a much better turnout.

Along the way, I picked up a lot of good people who were there to help, like Mervyn Cohen, Ed Kelly, Chris Carisch and others.  The SAY organization promised goals, but at the last minute, they did not come through.  So, the night before our first weekend of games, a few of us set out to build soccer goals out of 2X4's.  Trust me, not a good idea.

That first season, fall, 1979, we had four teams in one age group.  By spring, 1980, we had 8 teams in two age groups and "real" goals, thanks to a scrap iron company on 10th Street.  As the league grew, the school corporation took notice and we were able to start using school property.  We ended up with two fields at Guion Elementary, two at Eastbrook, and one in front of the high school.

Since I had been registered as a referee in Texas, I was also the one who ended up providing the first referee training so that the league would have some type of officials.  I don't really know if we had elected officers at that time but I guess I would have been president if we did.  I sort of stayed in charge for a couple of years and then stepped down into an advisory capacity.

I remained active as a coach and referee while my son grew up.  When he graduated from high school, I took leave of the game.  Then I had a daughter and she wanted to play soccer.  I jumped back into the game as coach at first, then took up refereeing again.  She has now outgrown the sport, but I still try to do a little officiating." 

Don Frye 'retired' in 2003 after 25 years of volunteering to benefit the families of Pike Soccer Club.