Barbara Rodriguez in the middle flanked by her daughter Judy and husband Julio.
By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
November 4, 2014-Many friends from the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) came to Filetto’s in East Northport on October 26 to honor longtime volunteer Barbara Rodriguez upon her retirement from soccer. The Northport resident has seemingly done it all as a volunteer in youth soccer.
For the past 23 years, the Eastern New York Hall of Famer was the lead organizer of both the State Open Cup and Arch Capital Group Cup. Eastern New York is very pleased to announce that the Girls-Under-19 State Open Cup final to be played on June 13, 2015 at the Peter Collins Soccer Park in Plainview will be for the newly-named Barbara Rodriguez Cup.
“Barbara Rodriguez has spent decades volunteering for the kids of the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association,” commented ENYYSA President Richard Christiano. “Although I will miss seeing her at games, we are very pleased to announce the naming of the Girls-Under-19 State Open Cup championship after her.”
Barbara started out as a coach of the Northport/Cow Harbor Rainbows, then became Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL) Games Supervisor. She is a past president of the Northport/Cow Harbor Soccer Club that sent three teams, a Long Island record, to the US Youth Soccer National Championships under her tenure.
Barbara was co-founder of the Northport/Cow Harbor Columbus Day Tournament which played its 26th edition last month. She was also girls coordinator for the Liberty Cup, a well-respected International tournament played at Mitchel Athletic Complex during the 1990’s. And before that, the tireless volunteer was tournament director for the LIJSL Girls Select Tournament.
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.