Wantagh/Seaford Dynamo in blue and some of the Syosset Avengers in red after the game
By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
April 30, 2014-The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) prides itself on the sportsmanship of our teams, players and coaches. It’s a legacy passed down by US Soccer Life Member Rocco Amoroso. Concerned by a lack of civility on soccer fields, Rocco started the Sportsmanship Program of the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL) in 1980 and his program is used throughout Eastern New York and has since been copied around the world.
A shining example of this sportsmanship occurred in the LIJSL’s Girls-Under-11, Division N6 game on Saturday, April 26 between the Syosset Avengers and Wantagh/Seaford Dynamo at a soggy Stillwell Fields in Woodbury. Games in that age group play 9 vs. 9 but Syosset only had seven players show up that day due to other commitments and Wantagh/Seaford had 11 so the game looked to be a mismatch. Until Wantagh/Seaford coach Brian Crowley fielded seven players at kick-off and kept seven on the field the entire game.
“I work hard at coaching two teams and it’s very disheartening when you expect families to show up at games and they do not, causing your team to not have enough players,” Coach Crowley explained. “I’ve been there before when we were short players once and did not want the other team to feel awful that we were so much better than them playing 9 vs. 7. So playing 7 vs. 7 was the right thing to do.”
Wantagh/Seaford wound up winning, 3-1, in a competitive game in which Coach Crowley gave everyone a valuable lesson in sportsmanship. Nicole Maggio, Lara Palazzolo and Amanda Williams scored for Wantagh/Seaford while Sierra Rosado scored Syosset’s goal.
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.