John Ciano (left) and Gary Book before the game
By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
October 25, 2018-It’s rare that two Olympic Development Program (ODP) coaches in the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) coach against one another but that’s exactly what happened on Wednesday night, October 17 in Albany.
John Ciano, now in his eighth year as an ODP coach, lead the College of St. Rose against Adelphi University, coached by Gary Book, the Boys South ODP Director of Coaching. There were seven Eastern New York ODP players on the two squads, with St. Rose’s Gianni Carillo, Kyle Clemens, Ryan Henning, Aaron Muia and Samuel Statham plus Adelphi’s Taylor Kaczynski and Justin Thristino, in the 2-0 Adelphi win in Northeast 10 play. Adelphi is ranked 13th nationally in Division 2.
“It was a very hard fought game, and we ended up with only 9 players on the field!” explained Adelphi coach Gary Book, “As you would expect, the Saint Rose team was extremely well prepared tactically by John and exceedingly tough to break down. The game could most certainly have gone either way and we were lucky enough to secure two goals close to the end of the game.“
ODP is considered the highest level of competition in each state association. Every year, players must be re-evaluated by the ODP professional staff of coaches for a position on each age-specific team. The identification process ends each summer with the most elite players within the East Region competing for a position on the regional team. Players are then identified by United States Soccer Federation (USSF) staff coaches for possible entry to the national team program. Crystal Dunn is an Eastern New York ODP player starting on the US Women’s National Team yet even those players who do not make the regional or the national teams often use ODP as a springboard to college scholarships and even on to professional soccer.
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 nine 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.