By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
November 25, 2013-The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) is very pleased to announce that Chris Dietz, who coaches the Mahopac Thunderhawks of the East Hudson Youth Soccer League (EHYSL), has been selected as our Girls Competitive Coach of the Year. The Mahopac resident coached the the Thunderhawks to East Hudson’s Girls-Under-13, Division 1 championship in 2013. Chris previously coached the Mahopac Goldenhawks, who received the Jose Vargas Award for exemplary sportsmanship in 2010-11.
"Our daughter Julia, previously an in-house player, began playing with Chris in the 2010-11 season," Thunderhawks team parents Brian and Nora Meade wrote in nominating Chris. "Chris worked with Julia to make sure that she quickly developed the skills needed to be successful, as well as making sure that she was quickly integrated into the team. The transition from in-house to travel can be extremely intimidating, especially for an 11-year-old. Thanks to Chris, our daughter had an amazingly positive experience and has become not only a better player, but a better person."
Chris’ wife, Erin, states that "He gives each team member individual instruction based on their strengths and weaknesses and ample playing time regardless of their abilities. Chris never raises his voice. He plays with the girls and makes practice so much fun that they want to go back."
Besides his involvement as coach, Chris and his family are actively involved in fundraising for cystic fibrosis since a team member has the disease. Each year, the team participates in Freezin’ for a Reason by jumping into Lake Mahopac to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
At this Thanksgiving time, we in Eastern New York are particularly thankful for a role model like Chris Dietz.
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.