The Edwardsburg Lions Club has long been a supporter of the community’s youth soccer program.

In fact it nearly 40 years ago the service organization founded the Edwardsburg Lions Soccer League.

This year, the Lions sponsored three teams in the Edwardsburg Youth Soccer Association (EYSA) and a total of 25 players. The Lions Club encourages other community members to sports a team or two next season.

“The Edwardsburg Youth Soccer Association is a tax exempt, non-profit organization providing youth team-building activities for almost 400 children every year,” Edwardsburg Lions Club President Tanda Stiffler said. “Sponsors receive their name on the team’s game jerseys, their name and website link on the EYSA website and a thank you recognition plaque with their team’s photo.”

The teams that the Lions Club sponsored this year were the Red team, Little Leos and the Orange team.

The red team was the Edwardsburg Lions U-8 team, coached by Jason Jones and Daniel Affriseo. The players were Sophia Affriseo, Kaleb Brown, Mackenzie Brown, Neveah Jones, Evan Kniss, Evan Strong and Gracie Tadd.

One of the Orange teams was the Edwardsburg Lions Little Leos U-8 team, coached by Lions Amy Anderson and Shane Szalai. The players were Mali Szalai, Kira Vargo, and twins Tyler and Brandon Hosang. Not pictured were Chandler Sheets, Madelyn Buikema, Dylan DeDario and Tyris Yoder.

The other Orange team was the Edwardsburg Lions U-10 team, coached by Mark Anderson and Shane Szalai. The players were Devyn and Josh Arias, Alex Carfi, David Christodoulides, Matthew Dickerson, Macey Laubach, Liam McNaughton, Lili Szalai, Mackenzie Vargo and Bentley Whitmer.