The 2003 South American Under-17 Football Championship was played in Bolivia from 1 to 18 May 2003.
The competition was originally scheduled for February 28-March 16 in Venezuela, Maracay - it was postponed to May and moved to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia due to social unrest in Venezuela; Venezuela were awarded the organisation of the 2005 edition instead.
The host of the competition were the cities of Santa Cruz and Montero.
The 10 national teams were divided in 2 groups of 5 teams each. The top 2 teams qualified for the final round.
The final round were played in the same system that first round, with the best 4 teams.