Lyle Yorks has an office full of treasures reflecting a career in professional soccer – signed jerseys, photos with famous players and plaques commemorating significant accomplishments.
But before Yorks became a powerful soccer agent, he was a student-athlete at the University of Virginia in the early 1990s. And he’s got a trunk for that stage of his life.
“This is a true story,” Yorks said last week from his sprawling office in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C. “Three weeks ago, I cleaned out my garage, and I went through (the trunk). There were things in there from the past, like from the different teams I played on.
“But there was also a book from my American lit class. Obviously, it was meaningful because I kept it.”
Yorks puts on a display of moves while competing for the UVA men’s soccer team in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Yorks, named a second-team All-ACC midfielder in 1991, is sixth in program history with 91 games played. (Contributed photos)
Yorks, a leader at a major global soccer representation firm, has never stopped clinging to the four years he spent on Grounds.
This month, he’ll travel all over North America on behalf of his five clients playing in the FIFA World Cup. But the 1992 UVA alumnus can also flash back to shooting hoops with Dawn Staley, taking a psychology course with beloved professor Raymond Bice and going on walks with his American Literature to 1865 instructor.
The dusty book sparked the memory.
“We would just talk about life,” Yorks said. “I look back at that fondly.”
Yorks is the global executive chair of YMU Group and the founder of what is now YMU Sports. Named one of the 50 most powerful people in U.S. soccer by Sports Illustrated in 2013, he built that reputation one marquee client at a time – with former national team captains Tyler Adams, Carlos Bocanegra and Clint Dempsey among them.
He’s also made a habit of representing UVA talent. He’s worked with Morgan Brian, a Cavalier women’s soccer legend who helped the U.S. win a pair of World Cup titles. And this month, two more Wahoos are on his World Cup client roster – Joe Bell of New Zealand and Derrick Etienne Jr. of Haiti.
None of this career was by design. In fact, Yorks, a former player himself, used to bristle at the word “agent” because he didn’t like the stereotype.
“And then I realized I didn’t have to change who I was as a person,” he said.
Joe Bell, left, and Derrick Etienne Jr. flash their talent while members of the Cavaliers. Bell (New Zealand) and Etienne Jr. (Haiti) will represent UVA in this month’s World Cup. They are two of five Yorks clients playing in the event. (Virginia Athletics photos)
Yorks was an All-Atlantic Coast Conference midfielder at UVA and part of NCAA championship teams in 1989 and 1991 that featured future U.S. standouts Jeff Agoos, Tony Meola and Claudio Reyna, plus coach Bruce Arena. He was also a sociology major who cultivated relationships with those in and out of the Cavalier locker room.
“Going to UVA and meeting people outside of the athletic department, it rubs off on you,” Yorks said. “The University helps shape who you become as a person.”
Yorks stayed in soccer immediately following graduation, both as a professional player and a coach. It was his own agent, Paul Stratford, who suggested a move into the industry as Yorks earned a master’s degree in sports management from the University of San Francisco.
With Arena taking over as U.S. national team coach in the late 1990s, “The timing was perfect,” Yorks said. “I remember going to national team camps on a tight budget and sharing a room with one of the assistant coaches just to save as much money as I could.
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