By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
June 4, 2014-There are some things you can count on in life: The sun will come out tomorrow, the swallows will return to San Juan Capistrano and in the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA), the Alleycats Soccer Club will win the Girls-Under-12 Small-Sided State Open Cup. Playing 8 vs. 8, the Albany club has won the past six championships in that age group.
2014 continued the pattern as Alleycats Girls Elite defeated the Ballston Spa Strikers, 2-1, behind goals by Isa Provost and Ava Panto in the final between two Capital District Youth Soccer League (CDYSL) teams on Saturday, May 31 at Stringham Park in LaGrange.
“We believed that we could win the State Open Cup from the first day we came together,” commented Alleycats coach Dede Lleshi. “The difference today was our confidence and the way we play as a team.”
Coach Lleshi received a $2,000 check from Eastern New York to defer the costs of playing in the Regionals from June 26 to July 1 in Kingston, Rhode Island.
Ballston received the Howard Rubenstein Sportsmanship Award as selected by the match officials. Now retired, Mr. Rubenstein was seemingly involved in every facet of New York soccer for decades and is a member of the Halls of Fame of Eastern New York, the US Amateur Soccer Association and the Long Island Junior Soccer League.
With 123,843 youth soccer players––68,587 boys and 55,256 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.