By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
June 10, 2019-In a championship final between two Long Island teams, Levittown Gunners 2002 topped Massapequa Titans, 2-1, on June 2 at Stringham Park in LaGrange. As the new Boys-Under-17 State Open Cup champs, Levittown took the Jose Vargas Cup home to Long Island.
Jose was a man of many hats (and many hats that had many feathers) who served as State Referee Administrator, State Youth Referee Administrator and State Director of Assessment as well as President of the East Hudson Youth Soccer League (EHYSL) and East Fishkill Soccer Club.
“Massapequa’s heart and determination made it an incredibly tough battle,” stated Levittown coach Gary Book. “But we matched their intensity as we have a very resilient bunch and we were able to win the game.”
Josh Levine and Austin Ortiz scored Levittown’s goals.
Levittown also received the Rocco Amoroso Sportsmanship Award as determined by the game officials. The namesake of the award, who died in 2016, was inducted into the Halls of Fame of the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL) and Eastern New York plus was honored as a Life Member by U.S. Soccer.
Levittown will represent the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) at the Regionals from June 28 to July 4 in Charleston, West Virginia as part of the National Championship Series.
With over 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 11 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 Association. For more information, please log onto http://www.enysoccer.com/, which receives nearly 300,000 hits annually from the growing soccer community.