By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
February 1, 2022-The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) is very pleased to announce that Enrico Romano will be inducted into the Eastern New York Soccer Hall of Fame. The current plan is to have the ceremony in November, subject to change because of Covid protocols.
Despite his surname meaning “Roman,” Enrico grew up a long corner kick south of Rome (and Naples, for that matter), playing soccer in Teggiano in the Province of Salerno before emigrating to the United States in 1974. He became a coach in 1983 in the Beekman Youth Soccer Club in the East Hudson Youth Soccer League (EHYSL) and he coached his Boys-Under-19 travel team to winning the Dutchess Cup during his 15 years in this role, including years long after his own children had graduated from youth soccer.
The Poughkeepsie resident became a certified referee in 1991 and helping him control players was the fact that he can speak English, Italian and Spanish fluently. He continued for 27 years, retiring as a ref in 2018. He was also a certified Assessor, Instructor and Assignor as well.
Enrico was very active in the Hudson Valley Soccer Referees Association (HVSRA), eventually assuming the Presidency, a position he held for 18 years. Under his leadership, the organization showed continued excellent growth in both membership and quality. He pioneered a mentoring program in partnership with the EHYSL as well as a program to identify and provide advanced training for high potential referees. His leadership and record of achievement saw him appointed to the State Referee Council as Director of Assigning for a 5-year term before being named State Referee Administrator, a position he held from 2013 to 2016. During this time, the number of registered refs increased 30% to over 4,000 officials and he hosted top clinicians at Elite Referee Meetings at Fordham University in the Bronx. Enrico also served as the President of the Mid-Hudson NISOA Chapter.
Enrico was inducted into the EHYSL Hall of Fame in 2010.
Enrico also volunteered on the ENYYSA Board as a Trustee for three years until the time constraints due to his business demands at IBM forced his resignation. Chairing the Inner City/Intramural Committees, he organized festivals in underserved and under-represented areas and also served on the Supervisory Committee.