Hannah is on the left and Margarida is on the right in both photos
By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
December 23, 2013-The photo of a candid moment during a Girls-Under-10 game in the Westchester Youth Soccer League (WYSL) last April captured the hearts of soccer fans. The Edgemont Fire’s goalkeeper, Hannah Guttenberg, could not tie her unlaced cleat since she was wearing goalkeeper gloves so Margarida Ferreira, an opposing forward on the Scarsdale Independence, tied her shoe. It was a wonderful display of what is best in youth sports.
"This was a very nice example of sportsmanship," Edgemont coach Jonathan Faust said. "We had nice kids playing a nice game which ended in a 2-2 tie."
The WYSL, one of the largest leagues in the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA), honored Hannah and Margarida as the league’s Sporting Players of the Year at their Awards Dinner on December 4 at the Whitby Castle in Rye. Although Hannah is still playing with the Edgemont Fire, Margarida is now playing with the Scarsdale Milan as teams in Scarsdale change their name every year.
"While it is very easy to spot the glaring examples of bad behavior on the field, it is not easy to visually capture good sporting behavior. The moment I saw the shoe-tying image of these two girls from opposing teams, I thought it perfectly captured the spirit of what the WYSL has been stressing with our league Sporting Program," commented WYSL President Julian DiDonato. "Hannah and Margarida were the hit of our Awards Dinner! The standing ovation and roaring applause they received when we presented them with the WYSL Sporting Players of the Year Awards confirmed that all our league volunteers felt the same way."
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. Eastern New York 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. Eastern New York 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.