By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
August 13, 2014-The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) wishes Burt Wilkes all the best as he leaves Eastern New York’s Board of Directors since he was just recently elected Deputy Director of Region 1, which covers youth soccer in the Northeast United States.
Burt became involved with the Silver Lake Soccer Club in 1991 and served the club as President, Vice President and Trustee. He was the assistant coach and team administrator of the Silver Lake Rams, who won two State Cup championships at Boys-Under-17 and Boys-Under-19 with losing in the final at Boys-Under-18 in-between their two State Cups.
While with Silver Lake, the Rossville, Staten Island resident became a member of the Board of Directors of the Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League (CJSL). He served six years as the CJSL President. Burt was the driving force behind the CJSL opening a full-time office, negotiated partnerships with corporations and was instrumental in CJSL girls teams playing in other Eastern New York leagues as guest teams while the CJSL accepted guest teams from other leagues.
Burt volunteered as the First, Second, Third and Fourth Vice President as well as Trustee of Eastern New York. He has served as Chairperson of Eastern New York’s Olympic Development Program as well as Commissioner of the Eastern New York Premier League (ENYPL). So with all this volunteering and accomplishments, it’s no surprise that Burt has been inducted into the Halls of Fame for both Eastern New York (2012) and the CJSL (2013).
“While I am sorry to see Burt leave our Board of Directors, I am very happy that Eastern New York will have an important voice with him in Region 1 soccer,” commented ENYYSA President Richard Christiano.
Somehow Burt also found the time to be the boys soccer coach at Moore Catholic High School for five years and won the B Division Championship in 2001 as well as spending countless hours volunteering in the Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.
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. 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.