Update on 11-13-2024

Our club and many of our youth soccer players and families have been greatly impacted by the devastating floods caused by Hurricane Helene. The economic impact on our community will continue to be far-reaching, and many players who did not require assistance in the past, now need help from our need-based financial aid program.

Youth sports will play an important role in our community's recovery and healing. Relief from the despair caused by the loss of property, businesses, and jobs is a real need for many of our families, and we want them to be able to count on us to provide that for their children. Please help us. All donations will help provide financial aid to those with the greatest need.

Update on 10-9-2024

A majority of the search, rescue, and recovery work has been completed, but there are still thousands without electricity and most of Buncombe County is without water. The water system is weeks away from being able to provide clean water to families, schools, and businesses. Other critical infrastructure is just beginning to be repaired.

This week we began offering supervised “pick up play” at a few available facilities for our Recreation and Competitive soccer program players. These have been well attended and appreciated by players, parents, and our staff. As more facilities become available, we will incrementally return players to more normal programming and provide as much of the fall season as we can. Buncombe County and Asheville City Schools are still weeks away from being able to have in-person learning, and our players desperately need the outlet that soccer provides. Access to those school facilities, as well as County and City park facilities, remains undetermined. We are prepared to restart programming again, incrementally, as soon as those facilities can be used safely and responsibly based on our communities' other basic service needs.

Posted 10/4/2024

As so many of our local, North Carolina, and eastern United States soccer friends are aware, The Western North Carolina Mountains, our home, were devastated by the catastrophic floods of Hurricane Helene. Many of you have reached out asking how to help ABYSA/HFC and our community during this time of dire emergency and moving forward.

Currently, all community resources are going to search and rescue, recovering the bodies of those of those who perished, and meeting the basic needs of hundreds of thousands without water, electricity, and basic communication capabilities. Much of the infrastructure, especially that for delivering safe water to homes, will not happen quickly. While thinking about when we will play soccer again and what that will require is not our immediate concern, we know that returning to some level of normalcy and getting our kids on the field in some capacity, will soon become a priority.

As our community recovers and rebuilds, sports programs will continue to play an important role in the health and welfare of our children. At the time of the storm, we had 4,738 youth players registered for fall recreation and competitive soccer programs. While we do not know the exact way forward for our vibrant and cherished soccer community, we do know there is a path and that Asheville Buncombe Youth Soccer Association/ Highland Football Club will find it.

We pride ourselves on making soccer accessible to children regardless of their family’s financial resources. We have always been able to fund this objective with a need based financial aid program that has never turned a player away because the program’s resources were depleted. We are worried that the needs of those children in our program whose families have been most severely impacted, and will need to rebuild their lives, and in too many cases their homes or careers, will exceed existing revenue sources for our financial aid program.

It is for this cause that we ask you to consider a contribution to ABYSA/HFC Financial Aid Program. We are a 501 c 3 Not- for -Profit and donations are tax deductible. Donations can also be made by check and mailed to ABYSA, PO Box 895, Asheville, NC 28802.

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Many HFC + ABYSA players need help to continue playing in the aftermath of the devastating impacts Hurricane Helene has had on our club and community. Please support our need-based financial aid program for our most impacted families.