Who We Are The Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) is a nonprofit agency of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington that seeks to help young people find true happiness by coming to know and love Jesus Christ in His Church through participation in their parish athletic, scouting and youth ministry programs.
The CYO began in 1945 as the Parochial School Athletic League with 40 men serving on its Board of Directors. For over 65 years, the CYO in The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington has proudly served the young church, working for and with young people who are living witnesses of the truth that faith is alive in the hearts of the youth.
Today, CYO continues to offer organized sports leagues along with a comprehensive array of diverse youth ministry programs and services for parishes and young people. The youth that we work with are not only the Church of tomorrow; they are the active and faithful young Church of today.
The Catholic Youth Organization seeks to empower our culturally diverse young people to come to know and love Jesus Christ, to embrace their Catholic faith, and to develop their talents in the service of family, parish, and community at large.
The Catholic Youth Organization works to achieve this by assisting families and adult leaders in the parishes of the ADW in developing effective ministry, education, leadership, athletics, scouting and recreation programs that offer young people the full truth about life, love, competition, education and solidarity. We seek to foster the personal and spiritual growth of young people in such a way that they will be able to confront the real challenges and sorrows of human life and develop their talents in service of their family, parish and neighborhood.
Who We Serve
More than 25,000 children, adolescents and young adults annually in five Maryland counties and Washington, D.C.
More than 1,000 sports teams (soccer, basketball, cross country, track, rugby, softball and baseball), supported by more than 2,400 adult volunteers, coaching more than 11,000 young people.
More than 64 chartered troops, 5,000 young people and 2,000 volunteers participating in Catholic Scouting programs.
Upcoming Events
The events below are just a glimpse of all the events we offer. Please visit our Calendar to view all of our events.
Scouts are encouraged to join in the annual archdiocesan celebration of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe! Each year, the ADW honors Our Lady with a pilgrimage through the streets of Washington, D.C. The pilgrimage begins at The Shrine of the Sacred Heart and concludes at The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, where together we pray the Rosary and celebrate Mass.