By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
October 12, 2015-When the Northport Soccer Park off Eatons Neck Road opened at the turn of the millennium, its four pristine fields became known across Long Island as one of the best soccer complexes in the area. The Northport/Cow Harbor United Soccer Club of the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL), which leases the fields from National Grid, has been maintaining the fields in top condition ever since.
But when club volunteers arrived at the Soccer Park on Saturday morning, September 12 for opening day of the LIJSL Fall Season, the fields had been vandalized. The police have since arrested four local teenagers who are charged with driving onto the four fields, damaging all of them with tire tracks.
15 games to be played that weekend at the Northport Soccer Park were cancelled, affecting approximately 500 children, teenagers and their families. That’s when the groups under the umbrella of the United States Youth Soccer Association (USYSA) sprang into action. LIJSL clubs donated $6,650, $1,000 was donated by the LIJSL with an additional $500 each being donated by the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) and Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League (CJSL) for a grand total of $8,650 to help Northport/Cow Harbor.
Club volunteers were able to repair the fields in time for the 27th Annual Northport/Cow Harbor Columbus Day Tournament on October 10 and 11.
“On behalf of the Northport/Cow Harbor United Soccer Club Board of Directors and our membership, I would like to thank ENYYSA, LIJSL, CJSL and the member clubs for their offers of use of fields and the generous financial donations to repair our home soccer fields. The strength of friendships that knit together the soccer community is a part of what makes soccer the great sport it is,” commented Northport/Cow Harbor United Soccer Club President David Bozett.
With over 100,000 youth soccer players––both boys and girls––and more than 25,000 volunteers, the non-profit Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) stretches from Montauk Point, Long Island to the Canadian border. Members are affiliated with 11 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.