From left to right, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association President Richard Christiano, Milagros Arana, Long Island Soccer Football League President Gus Xikis and Eastern New York State Adult Soccer Association President Sal Rapaglia.
By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
December 8, 2014-The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) and Eastern New York State Adult Soccer Association (ENYSASA) are pleased to announce that New York Metropolitan Women’s Soccer League (NYMWSL) President Milagros Arana has been inducted into the Eastern New York Soccer Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony took place at our 2014 Holiday Party on December 7 at Marina del Rey in the Bronx.
Milagros joined the NYMWSL’s Nova Soccer Club as a player in March 1988. Four months later, she was voted in as the NYMWSL Secretary and moved up the ladder, becoming Vice President in 1992, Public Relations Officer in 1998 and President in 2000, a position that she still holds 14 years later.
The Forest Hills resident also volunteered as Trustee of ENYSASA for one year and as Recording Secretary for three years.
Milagros managed Nova, which later became New York Athletic Club, from 1988 to 1996. She then managed and coached the Manhattan Kickers women starting in 1996 and continues to this day, adding a second team in 1999 which she also manages. The first team won the State Cup in 2012.
Milagros was a sweeper who converted to goalkeeper until she retired from playing in 2007.
She organized the NYMWSL 30 Plus team which won the National Cup in the Women’s-Over-30 division when they defeated St. Louis, 4-1, on August 5, 2007 in Tukwila, Washington. That squad became the first women’s team from Eastern New York to win the national championship.
Additionally, Milagros was an assistant coach with the State Women’s Select team for more than a decade, was on the New York Magic W-League game day staff from 1997 to 2007 and volunteered as an assistant coach with the Downtown United Soccer Club in the Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League (CJSL) a decade ago.
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 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 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.