Green Hills Soccer Club was formed in January 1999 by a core group of soccer parents. The initial group consisted of eight parents of eleven young soccer players. They formed the club to provide a local venue on which to play soccer. At the time of formation, the closest affiliated club in which to play soccer was 75 miles away. This group of parents recognized the value of playing soccer for their children and were aware of soccers increasing popularity both nationally and on the state level but realized that it would have to be introduced as a new sport to the Green Hills area of Missouri.
After writing and adopting by-laws and electing directors, GHSC realized they needed the benefits of associating with state and national groups that could give them advice and guidance in organizing their club and to provide them with better soccer competition, more organized play and consistency in a soccer league. The board of directors investigated the three state organizations and decided to affiliate with Missouri Youth Soccer Association and received status as a provisional member.
GHSC formed an association with the Chillicothe Parks and Recreation Department, who provided fields and goals for the inaugural season in April 1999. The first season had 347 players on 34 teams with 58 coaches and administrators and 17 referees and had representatives from 10 counties and 24 communities. Only 4% of the players, and 8% of the coaches had any previous soccer experience, so it was essential that GHSC provide as much educational support as was possible with players clinics and camps, coaches clinics and licensing seminars and referee licensing classes and testing. Our first season was hugely successful and ended in May.
The summer was spent preparing for the fall season and working on expanding the fields on which to play. Matches were played in Chillicothe U-6 through U14, Trenton U-6 through U-10 and Hale U-6 through U-10. Six traveling teams were formed and included over 90 players and 14 coaches that competed in the Missouri Show-Me Games in Columbia in July. British Soccer Camps was scheduled and held the last week of July with 47 participants. A referee license class was held in August and 16 additional referees were licensed. Both an E and a F coaching license classes were given by the MYSA state coach and 90% of our coaches were licensed.
Fall registration was down slightly compared with the spring sessions. The younger divisions held their own while all the decrease was in the upper divisions. The board felt certain that once the younger children come up through the ranks the numbers will level out from spring to fall as they will decide to play soccer in GHSC as opposed to being involved in other activities.
The fall season went smoother than the spring due to the fact that we had much better weather to deal with only 4 matches weathered out. 100% of the participants that played in the fall signed up for the spring season. GHSC continued to push ahead to acquire additional fields on which to play, not only in Chillicothe but also in Trenton, Meadville, Hale, and Braymer.
GHSC held its first Annual General Meeting on November 16, 1999 and elected 4 board members and discussed the upcoming spring season. Things progressed at a very rapid pace and the dates for the seasons were set for 2000-2001 along with two soccer camps, 4 player clinics, 2 referee license classes, and 3 coaching license classes.
A separate fund raising effort was started to acquire funds to build fields close to Danner Park that would be available for play in the spring of 2001 and available for tournament play in the fall of 2001. Negotiations continued to acquire land to develop fields in Trenton, Hale, Braymer and Meadville. Extensive research and documentation was completed to write several grants from United States Soccer Federation.
Unfortunately, the grants were unproductive but the “Field of Dreams” fund raising drive collected almost $24,000.00. A long term lease on 7 acres was acquired from St. Columbans Cemetery and two full sized fields were constructed. They were completed in the summer of 2000 and the first games were played on the East field in the Spring of 2001 and both fields were available in the Fall of 2001.