By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
August 19, 2019-Sporting Club Gjøa of the Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League (CJSL) rediscovered its Norwegian roots again this summer by bringing five youth travel teams to Scandinavia to compete in the world’s largest youth soccer tournament, the Norway Cup, in the capital of Oslo from July 26 to August 4.
Boys-Under-13 SC Gjøa Pedersen, BU14 SC Gjøa Bjornebye, BU16 SC Gjøa Berg, BU19 SC Gjøa (mix of SK Brann and Solskjaer) and Girls-Under-15 SC Gjøa (mix of Mjelde and Ronning) travelled from Kennedy Airport.
Four of the five teams made it to the knockout rounds and two Gjøa girls, Aurora Donahue and Leah Maathey, were selected to play for the Rest of the World Team which defeated Norway, 3-1, in the GU15 All-Star Game.
Other highlights included the older boys invading the field and jumping on the goal scorers after SC Gjøa Bjornebye won a shootout as well as watching the Manchester United women’s team in their tour of Norway.
The Gjøa boat for which the club is named was skippered by Roald Amundsen, the first person to make it to the South Pole. The club was founded in 1911 and entered whale fishing and tug-of-war teams in competitions before Gjøa soccer started in 1918.
With approximately 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 nine 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 Children With Special Needs. 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.