By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
August 17, 2017-The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) is very happy to announce that Kaitlyn Mullen is receiving a Jack Bauman Scholarship. The scholarship’s namesake is considered the father of women’s soccer on Long Island. He was devoted to the Massapequa Soccer Club, Eastern New York and making sure that girls had as many opportunities to play soccer as boys did in an era when girls playing sports was not as accepted as it is today. The award is based on academic and athletic success as well as community service.
Kaitlyn’s parents were coordinators of the Sacred Heart Soccer Club in the Staten Island Youth Soccer League (SIYSL). At Notre Dame Academy, she played varsity soccer for three seasons and was a member of the National Honor Society, Science National Honor Society and the Spanish National Honor Society. She volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, Girls Who Code Club and Staten Island United’s Total Soccer Experience, which trains young children to become confident soccer players in an encouraging environment. She recently became a certified referee and has been refereeing intramural games on Staten Island plus currently plays soccer for the SIYSL’s Cedar Stars Academy 1999 Gunners.
She wrote in her essay, “Playing soccer throughout my life not only served as an extracurricular hobby but it also opened my eyes to how influential leadership, teamwork and respect are in everyday life.”
We wish Kaitlyn the best as he starts studying and playing soccer at Loyola University in Maryland this fall.
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 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 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 on to http://www.enysoccer.com/, which receives nearly 300,000 hits annually from the growing soccer community.