August 6, 2002
<bt>The Chantilly Youth Association (CYA) provides wholesome, fun-filled athletic activities for area youth. CYA began in 1975 when several different youth sports programs realized the advantage of combining into one umbrella group.
Greenbriar's Hal Strickland wrote the charter and took office as CYA's first president, eventually serving 28 years. The current CYA president is Ralph Wills.
Beginning with two sports and 210 participants, the organization grew rapidly and now has some 16,000 registrants in 18 sports seasons. Those offered are: baseball, football, basketball, soccer, softball, cheerleading, lacrosse, T-ball, tennis, volleyball, wrestling and track and field.
CYA is an all-volunteer group requiring more than 3,000 volunteers a year to run its programs. These programs need more than 40 fields and 15 gyms to schedule more than 20,000 annual events. CYA uses school and park facilities, but must provide all financial support for its youth sports through registration fees and fund-raising. The CYA Hotline number is 703-620-1048.