By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
October 9, 2018-The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) is very pleased to announce that Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League (CJSL) President Ron Restrepo has been named our Personality of the Month for October.
“We are very happy to honor Ron as he has hit the ground running in his new role as CJSL President since his election in June,” ENYYSA President Richard Christiano stated.
Ron, a 39-year-old resident of Jackson Heights, first became involved with soccer back in 1996 as a teenage coach, working as an after-school soccer coach with the Sports & Art Foundation Program under the umbrella of the New York City Board of Education. In 2001, Ron took the reins coaching a Boys-Under-11 team in the Brooklyn Patriots Soccer Club and the men’s team of the Borough of Manhattan Community College. The next year, he coached the Manhattan Kickers women’s team in the New York Metropolitan Women’s Soccer League.
2002 was a pivotal year as he founded the Chelsea Piers Soccer Club and it joined the CJSL two years later. Chelsea Piers prides itself as a boutique club that believes in quality over quantity and features youth development classes starting at the age of two. Besides playing outdoor soccer, the club organizes indoor leagues at the Chelsea Piers Sports and Entertainment Complex in Manhattan.
Ron has coached various age groups at Chelsea during the past 16 years and currently coaches three teams, of boys born in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Ron explained, “I would like to be able to assist and contribute to the growth of the sport in New York City. I want to have the ability to impact young athletes in a positive manner with exposure to the world’s most beautiful game.“
Ron started volunteering as the CJSL Games Chairperson in 2010 and worked his way up the ladder to being elected CJSL President this past June. Ron is the 16th CJSL President, dating back to the league’s founding as the first youth soccer league in the United States in 1933. The first President, Erwin Klaus, reigned for 27 years, which was the longest Presidency, from the league’s founding to 1960.
“My goals as CJSL President are to provide New York City with a competitive league that not only develops players but assists clubs with opportunities to grow their club,” Ron stated. ”Create a league that has a structured pathway to provide the best playing platform for our youth athletes.“
Congratulations to Ron Restrepo, Eastern New York Personality of the Month for October!
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 nine 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 onto http://www.enysoccer.com/, which receives nearly 300,000 hits annually from the growing soccer community.