By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
August 30, 2018-Sporting Club Gjøa of the Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League (CJSL) rediscovered its roots this summer by bringing six youth travel teams, five boys squads and one girls team, to Norway.
Gjøa teams competed in the world’s largest youth soccer tournament, the Norway Cup, in the capital of Oslo from July 28 to August 5. Over 2,000 teams participated and SC Gjøa Berg, who won the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association’s Boys-Under-15 Arch Cup in June, advanced the furthest of the Gjøa teams by making it to the quarterfinals.
“The Norway Cup was amazing! Their slogan is ’Memories for life,’ and that’s exactly what our trip was,” commented SC Gjøa Director of Youth Soccer Lee Kellett. “There are multiple field complexes and they bring in a carnival with a big stage. Our whole club there watched our teams play and we had 83 players, seven staff plus parents on the trip.“
The following week, August 5 to 11, Gjøa was hosted by the Nesodden IF club, a short corner kick from Oslo. The New Yorkers toured the Viking Museum as well as the Fram Museum, where they saw the Gjøa boat for which the club is named. It was skippered by Roald Amundsen, the first person to make it to the South Pole. The boat was recently restored at the museum by Hardanger Fartøyvernsenter.
Gjøa’s philosophy has always been to provide soccer training to as many children as possible, regardless of their family’s financial status. Currently, over 400 players, both boys and girls, are registered in the Brooklyn club, which is New York’s oldest youth soccer club. Soccer and darts are the only sports Gjøa competes in nowadays as whaling and tug-of-war were both dropped nearly a half-century ago after having champion teams for many years in both. Gjøa’s soccer program is celebrating its centennial in 2018 although the club was originally founded in 1911.
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 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 onto http://www.enysoccer.com/, which receives nearly 300,000 hits annually from the growing soccer community.