By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
August 11, 2015-The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) is very pleased to announce that longtime volunteer Karen Shogren is being honored as our Personality of the Month for August. This is her month as she was also the honoree for the 2015 Goals for Hope Tournament which benefited breast cancer support and was played on Saturday, August 1 at Stringham Park in LaGrange. 29 women’s teams participated and the tourney has raised over $400,000 in its 12 editions.
“We chose Karen as our honoree because she is an inspiration and role model to countless numbers of people in the soccer community and beyond,” commented Goals for Hope Co-Chairwoman Mary Darcy Schanz. “Along with being a wife and mom, Karen is a friend to many and selflessly extends herself into the community. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009 and it barely slowed her down. Our world needs more people like Karen.”
Karen started playing soccer with her three older brothers when she was nine years old and has been involved since. She played youth soccer for HBC of the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL), then played collegiate soccer for one year at Stony Brook University. It was then on to coaching.
“Before having any of my own children, I coached soccer for the Army Morale, Welfare and Recreation program while serving overseas,” she stated. ”When my oldest child was old enough to join a team, I started volunteering for our local soccer club, East Fishkill, in southern Dutchess County.”
Karen served the past five years as President of the East Fishkill Soccer Club and did not seek re-election this past June. She will continue to serve the club as the travel program secretary. Prior to being the club President, the Hopewell Junction resident volunteered as club secretary, intramural program director and intramural program division leader.
East Fishkill, one of the largest clubs in the East Hudson Youth Soccer League (EHYSL), has 1,400 players with a 60/40 split between boys and girls. Karen also founded the club’s TOPSoccer Program in 2010 and continues to volunteer with the program made up of eight Special Children and 15 volunteer buddies.
If that wasn’t enough, Karen volunteers for the EHYSL, serving as a member of the Board of Directors for nearly a decade and coaching EHYSL’s Academy Program.
“Karen has worn many hats in service to our youth soccer players for many years. Karen has served as a coach, referee, Club President and Board Member as well as volunteering as an Age Group Coordinator on East Hudson’s Board of Directors,” commented EHYSL President Jim Purdy. “She is one of those special people who lets her actions lead the way and gets the job done. All of this soccer stuff is squeezed in and around Karen’s dedication to her family and her church.”
Karen coached Haldane High School’s Girls JV team for three years and is switching to the Pine Plains Central School District Girls Modified Program this September to be closer to her “real job” at the Taconic Retreat and Conference Center in Milan, where she is director of the day camp in the summer and works with the gift shop, hospitality and recruiting volunteers during the school year.
“I am just one person who cannot do it alone. There are so many people who have helped me with the programs I volunteer,” Karen stated. ”I guess the biggest accomplishments are the times I get to watch the kids play the game in a safe, fun way. Between the Friday night pick-up games, the TOPSoccer players and buddies, still running around the field on my women's indoor team and watching my three children play, those precious little moments add up to success.”
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.
From left to right, Miriam Shogren, Su DeMan, Karen Shogren, Clark Shogren, Mark Shogren, Addison Shogren at the Goals for Hope Tournament