By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
April 22, 2013-Troy resident Brandon Dory used his three years playing with the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association Olympic Development Program (ODP) and his one year on Region 1 ODP as a springboard to receive interest from an amazing 65 colleges. Certainly helping is the fact that he’s a honor roll student who is taking college physics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as a high school senior. Brandon recently decided to attend Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
"Williams College is a fantastic school academically, and it has a great soccer program, too. This past season, they went to the Final Four in the NCAA Division 3 Tournament, and they have won it in the past," Brandon commented. "The head coach, Michael Russo, is a great coach as well as a fantastic guy, and he really stuck with me through the whole recruiting process while I was trying to make up my mind where I wanted to go. It was important for me to find the right match, both academically and for soccer."
"The thing that did it for me was when I went to visit the Williams’ campus," Brandon continued. "All the players were so nice and welcoming. I also visited a physics professor and some of his students. They also made me feel right at home and I could definitely see myself being at Williams for the next four years. I really have my ODP Assistant Coach Eric Watson to thank. He recommended me to Coach Russo and encouraged me to look seriously at Williams."
Brandon first started playing intramural soccer in the Brunswick Soccer Club at the age of five. He graduated to their Under-8 and Under-10 travel teams, then transferred to the Alleycats Pumas, where he has played for the past eight years. Both Brunswick and the Alleycats play in the Capital District Youth Soccer League (CDYSL). With the Alleycats, coach Jason Ramundo has utilized him at every position except goalkeeper although he mainly plays as a central defender.
"Brandon is one of the defensive anchors with Alleycats Pumas," commented Coach Ramundo. "At 6’4”, his frame and speed makes him a threat anywhere on the field. His hard work on and off the field has landed his college career at Williams College. It’s been my pleasure to have the opportunity to develop a player like Brandon."
"Brandon is an impact player. He is big, strong, fast, and, most importantly, very technical," said Roy Pfeil, his Head Coach with Eastern New York ODP. "He is very dominant in the air and I believe will be very successful as a central defender at the highest levels. Brandon likes to carry the ball forward from the back and is very comfortable when he dribbles into the attack."
At Troy High School, Brandon played four years of varsity soccer and he led the Flying Horses to two league titles, a 54-10-5 overall record with 40 shutouts and they went to Regionals for the first time in school history. About winning Sectionals, he stated, "It was an incredible feeling to win a game like that with your friends and for your school!"
Brandon is also quite excited about his trip last spring with the Region 1 ODP Team.
"When I first stepped on the field last spring with the Region 1 ODP Team to play the Luxembourg Under-17 Youth National Team, at that moment I realized how far I had come as a player to be there and how awesome an experience it was to be in Europe, to be playing soccer for my country," he said. "We also played three Bundesliga academy teams in Germany and practiced at the Saarbrücken Olympic training facility. The trip was fantastic as everywhere we went people treated us like celebrities because we were soccer players!"
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 12 leagues throughout the association, which covers the entire state of New York east of Route 81. Eastern New York 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. Eastern New York 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.