NJYS FootGolf Championships return to Crystal Springs for second year

FootGolf USA identified the second annual NJYS FootGolf Championships, presented by Jersey Youth 500, at Crystal Springs Resort on Aug. 4, and the repeat date gave the event a different weight than a debut showcase. New Jersey Youth Soccer had already staged the first-ever FootGolf Championships at Crystal Springs in 2025, so the 2026 edition marked a second straight year for the same youth format in the same venue.

That continuity matters for youth development. The championship was framed around boys and girls playing a sport that asks for soccer touch on a golf course, not golf experience at all. FootGolf USA describes the game as a precision sport in which players kick a soccer ball into a 52cm cup in as few shots as possible, and the setup rewards control, angle judgment and calm over raw power.

Crystal Springs gave the championships a more polished stage than a casual field could. The resort publicly lists FootGolf among its activities and golf offerings, including footgolf outings, and says the property sits among three world-class golf courses in the Appalachian Mountain range. That kind of venue helps a youth competition look like a serious event on the calendar, not a novelty tucked into summer programming.

The structure around the championships also fits the way New Jersey Youth Soccer already operates. NJYS runs competitions, registrations, sanctioned tournaments and member-league pathways, which makes FootGolf easier to fold into its existing system than if it were standing alone. The organization has also used FootGolf in a fundraiser tied to soccer players with disabilities, another sign that the format is being used for more than a single showcase.

The broader sport has built the same kind of scaffolding. The American FootGolf Federation says it introduced FootGolf to North America in 2011, while the Federation for International FootGolf has regulated the sport since July 2012. FIFG also created the FootGolf Rulebook in 2013, giving the game a formal standard that youth events can plug into as they grow.

That international ladder now includes juniors, too. FIFG’s first Youth World Cup in Marrakesh, Morocco, drew 22 nations and was billed as a milestone for the sport’s next generation. Against that backdrop, the second NJYS FootGolf Championships at Crystal Springs looked less like an isolated summer stop and more like a repeatable youth pathway with room to expand.