It started innocently enough in 1984 when Mark Stewart went to sign up a 6-year-old son for soccer in Kailua.

And now, 30 years later, he’s left to marvel at how he has ended up with nearly 500,000 kids.

"I guess it grows on you," Stewart said, explaining his ascension to the presidency of the American Youth Soccer Organization and the almost 50,000 teams that come with it.

Even for someone who has spent a career in real estate, the AYSO presidency — a volunteer position that oversees 50 states, the District of Columbia and Trinidad and Tobago — covers a lot of ground.

It is the first time, officials say, that someone from Hawaii has headed the organization, and it comes in AYSO’s milestone 50th anniversary year amid several challenges, including declining participation numbers.

But, then, the 60-year-old Stewart has embraced a number of challenges in an AYSO rise that began as a referee and saw him move on to coach, regional safety director, area referee administrator, regional commissioner, section director, national games staff, endowment fund commissioner and national vice president.

So, when Stewart stood before 400 regional and national officials last weekend in Anaheim, Calif., as a candidate answering pointed questions before the vote, the homework had long since been done.

Mostly, people who know him say, he just had to speak from a heart long dedicated to the AYSO mission. 

"I really love what we do, getting kids out on the field for a few hours of sweat and teamwork," Stewart said. "I really like the AYSO approach that everyone plays. That resonates with me. Basically, we want them to learn the skills and, more importantly, learn teamwork and having fun."

Proof of it is that his two sons, Cory and Kyle, went through AYSO and have returned as referees. Two granddaughters currently play. 

Stewart, a 1971 Saint Louis School graduate, says his own soccer playing career was modest. "I played just as it (soccer) was starting in the ILH and then played some intramural at UH (and) was very average, very mediocre. But I loved the game."

Alan Heu, whose son played on the same team with Stewart in 1984 and has come to know him for 30 years through AYSO, said, "He’s going to be good for the organization. For one thing, he’s been a mediator (chairing the Honolulu Board of Realtors Mediation Council) and those skills help. But it is also the way he operates. He gives you a job to do and lets you do it. He makes sure we’re on it, but he lets you do it and that’s not been the case with some of the presidents who have micromanaged."

Lynn Berling-Manuel, AYSO chief marketing officer, said, "He’s our first president from Hawaii and he definitely brings that spirit of ‘ohana’ with him. We are a national organization and it takes a special person to be able to reach out to all corners of it."

Stewart said, "I have a hard time saying ‘no’ when people ask me to do something, but I’m a little bit selfish, too, ’cause I really enjoy what I do."

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.