From left to right, Hall of Fame Chairperson Rocco Amoroso, Eastern New York State Adult Soccer Association President Sal Rapaglia, new Hall of Famer Cesar Aliaga, Eastern New York State Adult Soccer Association General Secretary Peter Pinori and Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association President Richard Christiano
By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
December 10, 2013-The Eastern New York State Adult Soccer Association and Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) are very pleased to announce that Cesar Aliaga was inducted into the Eastern New York Soccer Hall of Fame at our 2013 Holiday Party on December 8 at Marina del Rey in the Bronx.
The native of Peru came to the United States in 1980 and lived in Port Chester for 21 years before moving to Carmel. Cesar has played soccer for most of his life and in 1982, he founded Club Athletico Tumi which joined the Eastern District Soccer League (EDSL). He served as the club’s president for 16 years, as a member of the EDSL Board of Directors for six years plus was an EDSL All-Star coach for four years.
In 1993, Latino immigration started growing exponentially so Cesar founded the Port Chester Amateur Soccer League to serve this growing community. He has served as the summer league’s chairperson since and it is now a sub-division of the EDSL.
In 1994, Cesar also founded the Port Chester Soccer Club, a youth soccer club, which became a member of the Westchester Youth Soccer League (WYSL). Cesar somehow found the time to serve as the club president from 1994 to 2001 and 2003 to the present. He also served as a trustee for the WYSL a decade ago.
Port Chester started with two teams and now has 25 teams ranging from Under-8 to Under-17. Under his direction, Port Chester organizes two large tournaments. In late March, their Pre-Season Tournament hosts close to 100 teams and during Labor Day weekend, the Independence Cup hosts teams from South and Central America. Cesar is also very pleased that Port Chester players have been a part of the US National Youth Team player pool.
Cesar has also been volunteering since 1994 as the Soccer Program Director for Recreation Department in Port Chester. This year, in recognition of all his volunteering, Cesar received a Proclamation from the Village of Port Chester naming August 30th as Cesar Aliaga Day.
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.