Marblehead Youth Soccer Association will celebrate its 50th anniversary in February. In the five decades since its founding, thousands of kids have played soccer thanks to Dr. Maximilliaan Kaulbach (who passed away last year at age 94) and his wife, DL who founded MYSA in 1976.
Grab your shorts, socks, shin guards and cleats! Headlining local newspapers in February 1976 was the announcement that sign-ups to play soccer had begun for Marblehead boys and girls ages 11 to 18. According to MYSA historical records, by the fall of 1980 there were 40 teams — 25 boys’ and 15 girls’ — with 800 players participating. MYSA became part of Boston Area Youth Soccer.
There were many reasons for introducing soccer in the 1970s. A relatively inexpensive sport, players only needed to buy their uniforms. Boys and girls were on equal footing and uniforms were identical. Kids from public and private schools, and other parts of town, all got to know each other.
Kaulbach told the Current, “In the soccer league early days, it was all hands on deck. Max was president (four years) and I was vice president and Bill Reagan was a coach. A few others helped and we all registered players, set schedules and managed transportation. Soccer really caught on and kids and parents wanted to get involved in this fun new sport. Over time, we grew and relied on more parents to volunteer as coaches, carpool drivers, team mothers and committee members.”
Growing up in the Hague, Netherlands, shaped Kaulbach’s life passion for soccer. He was a goalie in the Hague for the Houdt Braef Stant team, one of the oldest football (soccer) clubs in the Netherlands, founded in 1893. Kaulbach was so stellar between the pipes that he played all the way up to the First Team during his teen years. He played against Ajax and PSV, two of the most successful professional football clubs in Amsterdam.
After graduating from Leiden University Medical School and interning at The Brooklyn Hospital, Max married D.L., and continued his training at Dartmouth Medical School. “When I moved to the United States in 1958 I did not realize that soccer was not popular in the United States. I became the soccer doctor for the varsity Dartmouth College team,” Kaulbach noted in his memoirs.
In the beginning, the Kaulbachs did everything from borrowing station wagons to driving teams to games, buying all the uniforms, lining the fields and coaching. D.L. was busy with administrative tasks, including managing registration, publicity and fundraising. “Our whole family got involved.” To this day, MYSA is an entirely volunteer-run organization.
The Kaulbachs’ son, Rob, was an early participant and later a coach, and grew up in MYSA.
“MYSA was brand new when I started,” Rob said. “The coaches and players created a culture that was team oriented. We worked hard to get to ‘states’ and had pride in our achievements. We rose up together as a team. It wasn’t about individual talent as much as all of us working together. I think I have taken that trait with me through life.”
For Marblehead resident Lisa Leaden-Miller, Marblehead Youth Soccer was life-changing. A self-described athletic tomboy, she was one of the first girls to play Little League baseball in Marblehead. She signed up for soccer in 1976, at age 11, the same year the league began. She remembers attending weekend tournaments all over Massachusetts, playing up to four games in one day.
“My confidence playing on the field propelled me to want to do bigger and better things. I think that learning how to play with a team, improving my skills and excelling are good life lessons. I remember Dr. Kaulbach running down the field, kicking the ball around and teaching kids.”
Leaden-Miller played high school soccer in 1981, 1982 and 1983. She added, “Our team was undefeated in 1982 and 1983, and we were the runners up in the Eastern Massachusetts division two state championships my senior year.”
After high school, Leaden-Miller was recruited to play soccer for Cornell and made the
varsity team her freshman year. “It instilled this work ethic. I honestly credit soccer with a lot of my successes in life. ” she added. Leaden-Miller went on to build a successful career as a pilot.
The Kaulbachs’ judgement was right on target. Marblehead was ready for soccer. The enthusiastic response, popularity and tremendous growth of the sport was overwhelming.
MYSA today
According to Karen Philip, who’s been president since 2024, this past fall the MYSA welcomed 217 young athletes in the kindergarten/first grade clinic, the youngest cohort in the program.
“We also served 230 young athletes in our town-based intramural soccer program for kids in second through fourth grades (G4 kids that do not wish to play travel). And our program counted 386 participants in grades four to eight, competing against teams across Essex County, All this is possible thanks to the 171 coaching volunteers across the program.”
MYSA also offers a high school program in the spring for students who play for MHS or other high school teams in the fall. Last year, 64 high schoolers participated.
Philip’s son still plays in the G6 boys travel soccer and her husband, Mark, coaches and is technical development director.
‘Family affair’
Since its humble beginnings, MYSA has been a family affair, driven by volunteers.
“It was fun for all of us because we met people we probably would never have met in Marblehead. Soccer was so new for everyone,” Kaulbach wrote in his memoir.
D.L. reiterated, “Max and I were very proud to be able to build this program in our wonderful Marblehead community. There are so many Marbleheaders who started in MYSA years ago and still play today in the over 30 or over 55 leagues and remain enthusiastic for this life-long sport.”
