By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
January 23, 2013-The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) is very pleased that James Nealis from Massapequa Terminators United of the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL) has been chosen in the 2013 MLS Draft at the Indiana Convention Center. As the 37th overall selection, Jimmy became the newest member of the Eastern Conference champion Houston Dynamo. A 6-0, 162-lb. midfielder/defender, he grew up playing with the Massapequa Soccer Club and also starred at Massapequa High School before moving on to a successful career at Georgetown University.
Jimmy started 71 matches at Georgetown, including every game over his last three seasons after breaking in as a part-time starter his freshman year. Over his time with the Hoyas, he tallied two goals and 15 assists, earned All-Northeast honors twice from the NSCAA, was named to the All-Big East team as a junior, and helped key the team’s run to the NCAA final this past season.
On Long Island, he was a four-year starter at Massapequa High School, finishing with 33 goals and 34 assists for his career. A three-time All-Conference and two-time All-State honoree, he was named the New York State Player of the Year as a senior in 2008. He played his club soccer with the Massapequa Terminators United for eight years, captaining the squad every season and leading the team to the 2007 Northeast Regional Premier League (NERP) Championship. A LIJSL Scholarship helped fund his education at Georgetown. Jimmy also played for the Long Island Rough Riders during the 2011 Premier Development League season.
Next up for Jimmy is training camp, which begins this week.
"I am super excited and can’t wait to get to camp," he said. "The Dynamo have had a lot of recent success and I look forward to learning from Dominic Kinnear."
The 21-year-old showed off his skills to the 19 MLS teams at the league’s combine in Lauderhill, Florida this month and Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear obviously liked what he had seen.
"Jimmy is a good player and he showed well at the combine," Coach Kinnear said. "He is a left back who likes to attack. And from what we know about him we like and hopefully we’ll see more over the next couple of weeks."
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.