Michael Longo Elected Vice President of the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association

By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Longo_for_Web Association

September 28, 2021-At the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) Annual General Meeting, longtime player, coach and volunteer Michael Longo was elected as our 4th Vice President.

Mike was introduced to the world’s most popular game when his older brother Vinny started playing so he and his twin brother Danny took up the game, wearing the red, white and blue of the Hicksville American Soccer Club.

“Also, our mother grew up across the street from former LIJSL President Peter Collins on Benjamin Avenue in Hicksville so we always knew about soccer,” Mike stated.

Mike, now President and CEO of Krystal Produce in Westbury, returned to the Hicksville club in 2005 to coach when his oldest son Tanner started playing.

“I then started coaching the Hicksville Hawks, made up of boys born in 2002, when Tanner started playing travel team soccer. But then he wanted to play with his friends on the Hicksville Warriors of boys born in 2001 so I started coaching them,” Mike explained.

Mike then coached the Hicksville Storm (boys born in 2002) that his son Cole played on and also the Hicksville Kickers (girls born in 2005) that daughter Riley is on. Last season, he also started coaching the Hicksville Lightning of girls born in 2006.

The Lloyd Harbor resident's coaching resume is completed by having been a staff member for the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL) Coaching Academy, assistant coach of the LIU Post men from 1999 to 2003 and the Molloy men from 2003 to 2007 plus head coach of Long Island Lutheran High School boys varsity from 2017 to 2020.

Additionally, Mike started the 3-year-old program with the Hicksville Americans in 2006 and went on the club’s Board of Directors soon after as intramural director. Mike had two tours of duty on the LIJSL Board of Directors sandwiched around being the Hicksville American's President from 2014 to 2017. For all this volunteering, Hicksville honored him as their Volunteer of the Year at the 2017 LIJSL Convention.

“I think that I still have my boots on the ground as far as with the game and the experience on Boards over the past 10 years. I look to just bring my lifelong soccer experience both on the field as a player and off the field as a coach mixed in with my business experience from my day-to-day job to help push the youth game in Eastern New York forward,” Mike added.

With approximately 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. For more information, please log on to http://www.enysoccer.com/