Now a goalkeeper for the San Jose Earthquakes, Onstad is pleased that his franchise is working to ensure that local youngsters will have the same interactions with professional athletes that he had.

The Earthquakes and Area 2J of the AYSO (which includes Saratoga, Cupertino, West San Jose, Prunedale and Watsonville) have partnered up for the Student of the Game Program, which is designed to offer young soccer players the opportunity to receive teaching and mentoring from Earthquakes coaches and players. Area 2J is the first entire AYSO Area to commit to the program.

"Area 2J has made an incredible commitment to the Earthquakes," former Earthquakes President and General Manager Alexi Lalas said. "The 2J players will reap the benefits of this progressive thinking."

The benefits Lalas refers to include a good deal of contact with professional coaches and players. According to Saratoga district MLS Commissioner Kenneth Wong, the program makes it possible for all members of Area 2J to take advantage of the Earthquakes' mentoring.

During the spring session, which ended recently, one MLS coach spent four hours with each upper division under 14 team, while another spent time with the players ages 4 to 6 every Saturday morning for a few hours for eight weeks. The middle division teams each received two or more training sessions from an MLS coach directly. Another coach started three continuous weeks of two-hour open clinics on weekdays immediately after school this spring.

The program will only expand, as the fall session will begin in late August and includes about 1,200 young players, compared to the spring's 350. Area 2 J youths will have access to continuing coaching clinics in addition to Quakes player appearances.

Onstad said he felt that the partnership was a step in the right direction for an organization hoping to create a "soccer nation" in America.

"The interaction that the kids get from the coaching is important," Onstad said. "But the most important thing is that they're playing the game. It lets them know that they have something to strive for."

In addition to the effect that the Earthquakes program has for kids, Wong hopes that it will also leave an impression on their AYSO coaches.

"As AYSO is for recreational players, my hope for the MLS relationship is [that it] opens up the horizons of these young players, whatever level they are at," Wong said. "Equally important is the constant need to elevate the standard of AYSO coaches through regular field sessions--that is also part of our MLS program."

The official kick-off for the Student of the Game Program will be an Area 2J opening day on Aug. 27. Youth soccer players have been invited by the Earthquakes to watch San Jose face off against the Los Angeles Galaxy. The last time the Earthquakes hosted an AYSO night, it sold out, and Wong, an AYSO coach himself, hopes to see the same interest for this event.

He'll certainly see heightened enthusiasm from the Earthquakes players. Though soccer is a popular youth sport, it has had less success as a professional sport in the United States than in other countries. This gives the MLS a different kind of purpose, Onstad says.

"Our role isn't just to play soccer and win championships," he said. "Our role is to educate. That's the goal of the MLS and all of the players. We want to get out and recruit people into the game of soccer."