The American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) is a national, non-profit organization which provides soccer development and instruction for children between the ages of 4 and 19 in all fifty states and some territories of the United States. AYSO is mostly run at local levels by teams of volunteers, including administrators, coaches and referees, many of whom are parents or family of the youth they coach. The AYSO National office, which consists of 50 paid employees, is based in Hawthorne, California and provides programs for instruction of coaches and referees and child protection education to its volunteers. AYSO is affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation.