Referee of the Year Albert Calise on left with SRA Enrico Romano
By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
January 5, 2015-Eastern New York is very happy that our 2014 Jose Vargas Referee of the Year Award recipient, Albert Calise, continues to ref in the Empire State even though he has lived in the past seven years in Tinton Falls, New Jersey. The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) and Eastern New York State Adult Soccer Association honored Albert at our Holiday Party last month at Marina Del Rey in the Bronx.
The award’s namesake, Jose Vargas, was an Eastern New York Soccer Hall of Famer, State Referee Administrator, State Youth Referee Administrator and State Director of Assessment before his passing in 2010. That’s the same year that Albert became a National Referee.
He became a ref at the age of 15 in 1993 when he joined the Staten Island Soccer Referees Association (SISRA) and quickly moved up the ladder officiating both youth and adult games in Eastern New York. Albert has refereed Eastern New York cup finals, both youth and adult, all over the state and officiated championship matches at the U.S. Youth Soccer Association Nationals in 2005 and the U.S. Adult Soccer Association Nationals in 2010.
Additionally, Albert has been a college referee since 2003 and was selected to be an assistant referee for the 2014 Northeast Conference women’s championship game and a NJCAA women’s quarterfinal match. As a high school official, Albert has refereed a New York State Catholic girls championship game and a New York City boys title match.
The 36-year-old Staten Island native has been officiating pro games since the age of 23. Last year, he officiated in the National Women’s Soccer League, the Premier Development League, National Premier Soccer League, USL Pro as well as the U.S. Development Academy.
“I have never seen anybody work as hard as Albert has done to get to where he is today as a National Referee,” commented State Referee Administrator (SRA) Enrico Romano.
“It’s unusual for referees to get awards as we are not part of a team that wins a championship,” Albert stated in his brief acceptance speech. “But referees serve the game just as the administrators and coaches in attendance today serve the game. Although I have lived in New Jersey for the past several years, I am proud to referee in Eastern New York.”
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.