By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
April 17, 2013-On Sunday, April 14, our roving photographer watched a Girls-Under-10 game in the Westchester Youth Soccer League (WYSL).
The Edgemont Fire’s goalkeeper, Hannah Guttenberg, could not tie her unlaced cleat since she was wearing goalie gloves so an opposing forward on the Scarsdale Independence, Margarida Ferraira, tied her shoe.
"This is a very nice example of sportsmanship," Edgemont coach Jonathan Faust said. "We had nice kids playing a nice game which ended in a 2-2 tie."
"Seeing something spontaneous like this in a 10-year-old really puts competition in perspective," commented WYSL President Julian DiDonato. "You should be playing hard but that doesn’t mean you treat your opponent as the enemy. They are obviously not as they are just like you, only on the other side of the ball."
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 12 leagues throughout the association, which covers the entire state of New York east of Route 81. Eastern New York 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. Eastern New York 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.