It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Mr. Arthur Yonge.

The entire South Texas Soccer Community is in mourning, as Arthur was instrumental in developing youth soccer in the greater Houston area since the mid-’80s.

Kids and soccer were his passion, and Arthur devoted his life to growing youth soccer. His vision was to provide a top-notch environment for all kids from any type of background to participate in.

In the late ’80s, Arthur was the driving force to establish the Eastern District Division One Association (EDDOA). This foundation allowed for competitive, Divison 1 youth soccer to develop to a whole new level. Through EDDOA, select clubs were able to grow, and with it the whole entire youth soccer community.

The last few years, Arthur has spent every minute of every day working with the local Club Directors in establishing the USC League that the top clubs in Houston are part of. From creating the brackets, producing schedules, securing facilities, hiring, assigning referees across South Texas, Arthur worked tirelessly on every detail to make sure players could play in the best, the safest, most organized, and most competitive environment possible.

Throughout these last 30 plus years, Arthur has been instrumental in supporting youth soccer in Houston. He worked tirelessly to deal with all of the issues and conflict that happened on a daily basis.

Most of all, Arthur was the most generous individual you could ever meet. He loved everyone involved in youth soccer. Whether or not they agreed with his vision, he would still love them and wanted nothing but the best for all.

His dream was always to be able to unite each and every youth soccer leader, club, or organization to make youth soccer a better place for all these kids that he loved so much.

All youth soccer families have benefited so much from everything he has done for everyone in the South Texas soccer community. He is irreplaceable, and he will be missed dearly.