By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
October 23, 2013-Former Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) President Peter Masotto was inducted into the Region 1 Hall of Fame on October 19 in Portland, Maine. Peter is the first member from Eastern New York to receive this high honor from Region 1 and he was inducted with longtime U.S. Women’s National Team player Kristine Lilly. The two already shared some history together before the ceremony as Peter coached his Massapequa Falcons team to a 4-2 win in the 1986 Girls-Under-16 Region 1 final and Kristine scored the Connecticut team’s two goals.
In Peter’s speech, he talked about how important it was to start girls soccer. "I started coaching because of my two girls, Annmarie and Patricia."
This is the fourth Hall of Fame he has been inducted into, having previously become a member of the Hall of Fame of Eastern New York (1998), the Long Island Junior Soccer League (1999) and the East Hudson Youth Soccer League (2004). In addition, he received the rare double honor of being selected a Life Member of both Eastern New York and US Soccer in the same year (2006).
Peter has been an extraordinary presence in youth soccer for nearly 40 years, beginning in 1975. His service and accomplishments are incomparable and include:
• He served as an Eastern New York Youth Soccer board member for 27 years, the last 23 as President from 1984 to 2006. He oversaw the growth of our member leagues from a relatively modest state association to a robust organization of 125,000 youngsters.
• Peter started coaching in New York in 1975. Rising from a parent/coach to the US Soccer "B" License during a stellar coaching career, he led his teams to an amazing 18 state youth championships and two Under-20 titles.
• His Massapequa Falcons teams were Region 1 finalists eight times, capturing the title three times and the national championship in 1986. He returned to the national championship game when he coached the Northport Elite in the 1994 finals.
• Peter was named US Youth Soccer Women’s Coach of the Year twice in 1984 and 1997, a feat no other coach has achieved for either men or women!
• Beyond coaching club, high school and college while also holding numerous leadership positions at the state level, the Babylon Village resident also served for several years as a Region 1 girls staff coach.
• Peter was a long time member of the Region 1 and National Appeals Boards; a candidate for national office and US Soccer’s Ambassador to the Women’s National Team games in Australia during which he served as head of the US delegation and represented our country in meetings with his opposite numbers from other nations.
"Peter always put the kids first in everything he did and that shines through in his legacy. I was very happy to see him being inducted into the Region 1 Hall of Fame," commented ENYYSA President Richard Christiano.
"It was a very nice induction ceremony and I was looking forward to it immensely," Peter stated. "I enjoyed all my time with Eastern New York as both a coach and an administrator. All the good players and good people that I had around me. It was a wonderful journey."
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 12 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.