By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
December 19, 2011-The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) and Eastern New York State Senior Soccer Association are pleased to announce that ENYYSA President Richard Christiano has been inducted into the Eastern New York Soccer Hall of Fame. The ceremony took place at Eastern New York’s Annual Holiday Party on December 17 at the Jericho Terrace in Mineola, Long Island.
Although this decade is not quite two years old, it's been very good to Richie as he was inducted into the Long Island Junior Soccer League Hall of Fame last year besides being elected ENYYSA President.
In the late 1970s until the '90s, Richie Christiano was a coach for the New Hyde Park Wildcats and then a member of its Board of Directors. Two decades ago, the LIJSL Select Program operated as two separate entities based on gender. Then LIJSL President Peter Collins asked Richie to take over as the head administrator of the program and unite the boys and girls programs.
The Floral Park, Queens resident insisted that they meet every Wednesday night without fail while he was the Program Director. He delegated, he saw that things got done and he appreciated the work that was done, from the committee to the coaches. He was always a “hands-on” manager but never micro-managed. The staff made contact every day, on the phone or through e-mail, to make sure he was informed. He was always at tryouts, practices and tournaments plus he had time to listen to parents' concerns.
Due to his success with LIJSL Select, Richie became the girls administrator of the ENYYSA Olympic Development Program where he again worked tirelessly to improve it.
Richie served on the LIJSL Board of Directors from 1997 to 2010 plus chaired the LIJSL Membership Committee.
Since his election as ENYYSA President, the state and Capital District Youth Soccer League hosted a very successful Region 1 President's Cup plus the state added sponsors Arch Capital and Herald National Bank, among other successful ventures. These sponsorships help keep costs down for soccer families.
With 120,000 youth soccer players and more than 25,000 volunteers, the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association stretches from Montauk Point, Long Island to the Canadian border. Members are affiliated with 12 leagues throughout the association, which covers the entire state of New York east of Route 81. ENYYSA exists to promote and enhance the game of soccer for children and teenagers between the ages of 5 and 19 years old, and to encourage the healthy development of youth players, coaches, referees and administrators. All levels of soccer are offered––from intramural, travel team and premier players as well as Special Children. No child who wants to play soccer is turned away. ENYYSA is a proud member of the United States Soccer Federation and United States Youth Soccer Association. For more information, please log on to http://www.enysoccer.com/, which receives nearly 300,000 hits annually from the growing soccer community.
