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Back row, left to right: Coach Andrew Wylie, Rory Patterson, Andrew Follmer, Nick Provost, Ryan Dupree-Goddeau, Brendan Whalen, Jared Peterson, Nate Boulé
Front row, left to right: Logan Julian, Sabour Tidjani, Shayne O'Neill, Cameron Duffield, Jeremy Rossi, Henry Wylie, Mat Durkin
Camera shy: Connor O'Neill, Kyle Side

By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association

April 27, 2017-Over 100,000 kids play in the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA), stretching from the East End of Long Island to the Canadian border, east of Route 81, which connects Binghamton to Syracuse. 74% of the kids registered live in New York City or on Long Island. Even though Eastern New York emphasizes geographic play for our statewide competitions, teams on the northern boundaries in Albany, Utica and the North Country still must do the most travelling.

The team travelling the most this Spring Season are the Boys-Under-17 Plattsburgh FC Arsenal. Representing the Capital District Youth Soccer League (CDYSL), Arsenal is competing in both the Eastern New York Premier League (ENYPL) and State Open Cup although the squad could travel far fewer miles by playing instead in the neighboring Vermont Soccer League (VSL).

“We could not play in the State Cup in Vermont since we are from New York,” commented Arsenal coach Andrew Wylie. “We applied to the ENYPL and were accepted for this spring. We expect the competition to be much stronger than what we would face in the VSL.” 

Plattsburgh, a small city of 19,989 (2010 Census) located 25 miles from the Canadian border and sometimes referred to as a suburb of Montreal, is perhaps best-known as the home of Plattsburgh State, where Arsenal plays its home games. Arsenal plays some of its other home games at Golden Goal Park in Fort Ann, located a cool 100 miles south of Plattsburgh.

On tap this spring for Arsenal are road trips to Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh (249 miles one way), Somers High School in Westchester (272 miles), SUNY Purchase, also in Westchester (293 miles) and Randall’s Island (306 miles). As Eastern New York emphasizes geographic play, Arsenal is not scheduled to play any teams from Long Island. Yet they will travel approximately 3,000 miles, the length of the continental United States, going to games this spring.

Besides the travel, the other main challenge for Arsenal is the shorter outdoor season in Plattsburgh. While teams in the New York City metro area can train outdoors up to 10 months a year if they want to do so, teams in the North Country can only play outdoors the eight months from April through November most years.

“During the winter, we participate in the City of Plattsburgh Indoor League at the Crete Center. It’s an old ice hockey rink turned into a soccer/multi-sport turf facility and we use it to train when times are available. We also utilize local gyms and the newly-opened Adirondack Coast Athletic Center that has a small turf field,” explained Coach Wylie. “Our teams travel to Albany in the winter to play indoor tournaments at the Afrim’s complexes and the Sportsplex at Halfmoon in Clifton Park.“

Despite all these challenges, Arsenal has become one of Eastern New York’s best teams, winning championships in the 2017 NEFC College Showcase in Boston, the 2016 Clifton Park Spring Soccer Classic, the 2016 Lake George Turf Cup and the 2015 Guilderland United Memorial Day Weekend Tournament.

If their coach's name sounds familiar, it's because when he’s not volunteering as coach of Arsenal or serving as Plattsburgh FC’s club president, Wylie makes his living as the District Attorney of Clinton County. First elected in 2005, he will be running for his fourth term this November. Wylie experienced his 15 minutes of fame two years ago when he successfully prosecuted Clinton Correctional Facility employees Joyce Mitchell and Gene Palmer in the prison break of convicted murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat. Matt was killed while on the lam and Sweat was recaptured.

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.

By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
 
August 7, 2014-With a dozen irrigated fields, being centrally located and just a short corner kick from the Taconic Parkway, Stringham Park in LaGrange hosts many top soccer competitions annually. For the past several years, the home of the LaGrange Soccer Club has hosted the State Open Cup finals of the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) and the State Under-23 finals of the Eastern New York State Adult Soccer Association.

Last Saturday, August 2, Stringham Park was the host to a different sort of competition, the 11th Annual Goals For Hope. As this is a festival, no standings were kept and the purpose of the festival was to have fun while raising money for a great cause, the Miles of Hope Breast Cancer Foundation, which funds support services and outreach for those affected by breast cancer in the Hudson Valley.

“The LaGrange Soccer Club is proud to be able to provide the use of Stringham Park for such a great event,” commented LaGrange Soccer Club President René Rivera.

The officiating was donated by referees of the Hudson Valley Soccer Referee Association (HVSRA) and has been since the first tournament back in 2004. There are even US Soccer instructors and assessors present in addition to referees.

“In my second year coordinating referees for the GFH festival, I have found an abundance of referees offering to volunteer their time to assist this effort,” offered Rob Sweeting, the LaGrange Head Referee. “This year we have about 25 officials lined up to aid in providing a great day of soccer to all the ladies playing.”

The competition is widely disparate, from the competitive games provided by college women on summer break, to the “Soccer Moms” playing 7v7, to the “Soccer GrandMoms” filling the ranks of the 5v5 mini-soccer teams. Many of the players grew up playing in the East Hudson Youth Soccer League (EHYSL). And everyone has a great time, always bearing in mind that the real purpose of the day is to raise money to fight breast cancer and support those families affected by the disease. The Co-Chairperson of Goals For Hope, Amanda Tierney said, “The community support for our Goals For Hope breast cancer tournament is overwhelming, from the women who play, to the youth players who volunteer to help run the event.”

This year’s Survivor Honoree was Mrs. Christine Galloway, a long-time Beacon Soccer Club coach who was recognized for fighting through (and prevailing over) two cancer diagnoses. The former EHYSL Board Member and her husband Robert have been pioneers in youth soccer in the Hudson Valley. In 1996, Christine became the first female elected to the East Hudson Hall of Fame. She was joined 10 years later by Robert.

The festival, through entrance fees, donations, sponsorships, and raffles of goods and services, has raised over $300,000 in the past 11 years.

“We are proud to be able to provide ongoing support for the Miles for Hope Breast Cancer Foundation, and grateful to those who contribute to the success of our events, helping to give back to those in need in our community,” Tierney added.

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.

By Tim Bradbury, Director of Coaching Instruction, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association

I was recently asked by Sam Snow, the Technical Director for the United States Youth Soccer Association, to prepare a seminar presentation for the upcoming National Convention on all aspects of the educational concept of “Developmentally Appropriate” teaching. At first glance, it seemed a straightforward and simple enough idea to tackle and present upon. I should have realized that the onion effect would apply and sure enough it has.

The phrase "developmentally appropriate" has become one of the buzz phrases within coaching education courses over the last two years. It is a phrase often thrown around and used in promotional literature to entice players and parents to jump in on the next great opportunity. It is sadly a phrase that few fully understand and one that even less attempt to adhere to and make a corner stone of their coaching programs.

So what is developmentally appropriate coaching and why must all coaches and parents be acutely aware of what it is and why our players must be immersed in sessions that satisfy the basic criteria that make a session truly developmentally appreciate?

The dictionary definition of the phrase reads as follows:

“A simple definition of developmentally appropriate practices would be a setting and curriculum that meets the cognitive, emotional and physical needs of children based upon child development theories and observations of children's individual strengths and weaknesses.”

So at first glance for a training session to be developmentally appropriate it would need to meet the following criteria:

1. Cognitive demands – problems posed and solutions available fit the cognitive development of the child (for example 5-year-old players cannot deal with anything bigger than 3v3 – to many decisions and problems to deal with.

2. Physical demands – the physical loads and duration of activities within the session should be a suited to the physical growth of the players (for example 7 year old players can not physically deal with the 11v11 field).

3. Social demands – part of the game is to cooperate, communicate and work in small groups or as a big unit. Young players of the ages of seven and eight can communicate with one or two people well, yet they struggle with the social skills needed to prosper within a big group.

4. Rhythm of rest and play – periodization. Good sessions take place within the context of a season and the other sports kids play. If a middle school player has just come from a 2-hour middle school game they should not be involved in a session which involves high levels of fitness.

5. Learning styles – a good coach is acutely aware of the learning styles of the players he deals with and therefore tailor-makes all explanations and coaching points in a manner which ensures all players are able to get the point.

6. Mixed Ability tasks – every team has players at different developmental points. Often sessions which just have core regimented drills than cannot be adjusted to challenge all in different ways simply mean that the bottom and top players within the group are either bored or frustrated that they cannot perform the task.

7. Have a coach that is skilled in guided discovery and the art of questioning—developmentally appropriate sessions help players think and evolve their understanding of the game. The use of high and low order questions in helping players think is a vital skill and one that needs practice and a great deal of thought. Sessions must not be full of drills and orders which the players blindly follow while their brain wanders off.

8. Emotional demands – youth players like to compete, be challenged, learn and master new skills and get positive reinforcement of efforts put forth. They do not like hollow praise or being berated. Effective youth coaches manage to ensure that all players leave a practice feeling as though they pushed themselves and that their effort was recognized.

In reading the above what should be abundantly clear is that designing and running developmentally appropriate sessions requires great thought, effort and considerable skill.

It is impossible to write on this topic and not consider game day and apply the same “developmentally appropriate logic” to that scenario. Try this, close your eyes and spend a minute thinking about all the things that you see each week that are making game day completely inappropriate and a negative experience for many.

Good – now compare the list you came up with against the list below:

• Coaches shouting and giving orders so players cannot think.

• Parents shouting and giving orders so players cannot think.

• Field sizes and numbers of players on the field that mean they rarely touch the ball.

• Goals that are so big that the GK could only touch the bar with a ladder.

• Formations and playing styles that mean it is impossible to develop combined with the fact that as soon as they get the ball they are encouraged to launch it forward.

• Emotional needs of the players: How is it possible for players to feel good about game day when all the points above are undeniably true? Their emotional tanks are empty and we continue to pour on the misery.

Please do all you can whether be your parent or coach to ensure that your players get to play in developmentally appropriate sessions – at last a buzz phrase with merit that we all need to understand.

Some of the prizewinners are above

By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association

October 10, 2017-September was Youth Soccer Month so the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) had a contest on Social Media. All those players and coaches participating showed how they celebrate Youth Soccer Month as their Fall Season kicked off. Here’s to the winners, now enjoying their soccer prizes:

Bownet 3×5 goal-Brianna Jankowski, Cortlandt Riveters (GU14), East Hudson Youth Soccer League

US Youth Bundle-Zachary Zalamea, Peekskill Santos (BU12), East Hudson Youth Soccer League

US Youth Bundle-Sunra Thomas, Kingston Wildfire (GU13), East Hudson Youth Soccer League

Red Bulls tickets-Rogan Byrne, Latham Circle Soccer Club (BU12), Capital District Youth Soccer League

Capelli Soccer Ball-Dylan Calandro, Levittown Intramural (born 2012), Long Island Junior Soccer League

Capelli Soccer Ball-Taylor Gabel, North Babylon White Legacy (GU11), Long Island Junior Soccer League

Capelli Soccer Ball-Matthew Schaeffer (coach), Patchogue/Medford Pumas (BU10), Long Island Junior Soccer League

Capelli Soccer Ball-Natalia Seminatore, Oceanside Hot Shots (GU11), Long Island Junior Soccer League

Capelli Soccer Ball-Leah Tomeo, North Babylon White Legacy (GU11), Long Island Junior Soccer League

SportPins Crystal Globe and Adidas Soccer Ball-Grace Winchell, Girls 2005 North ODP

Eastern New York would like to thank all our partners who donated the prizes.

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.

Highlights

• Minimum 3 games per team!
• Free entry into Regional and National Tournaments.  You pay your intimal entry fee in ENYYSA State Cup and the remaining entry fees are covered – valued over $1,500!
• $2,000 support to teams advancing to the Regionals.
• $2,000 support to teams advancing to the Nationals.
• 3 man referee system

By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association

June 3, 2015-The Levittown Wildcats became the comeback kids of the State Open Cup finals when they came from behind in both regulation and overtime to take the Girls-Under-12 championship in the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA). Levittown defeated the Smithtown Flames, 3-2, on May 30 at Stringham Park in LaGrange.

Kerrigan deMeij scored in regulation to tie the game for Levittown, then Matiana Valdez scored the tying and winning goals in overtime in a title game between two teams from the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL).

“The difference in the game was the Wildcats kept their focus on possession and never got down on themselves when they were behind in regulation and overtime. The girls held it together and scored some nice goals,” commented Levittown coach Rob Pearse. “Thanks to Eastern New York for the opportunity to participate in this event. My girls had a great time!”

Levittown received a $2,000 check from Eastern New York to defray their costs during the National Championship Series. They will be playing in the Regionals from June 26 to 30 in Barboursville, West Virginia.

The new state champs also received the Howard Rubenstein Sportsmanship Award for the fair play they demonstrated on the field. Now retired, Mr. Rubenstein was seemingly involved in every facet of New York soccer for decades and is a member of the Halls of Fame of Eastern New York, the US Amateur Soccer Association and the Long Island Junior Soccer League.

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 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.

Photo courtesy of Clemson University

By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association

March 4, 2014-Even though it’s a couple of weeks before St. Patrick’s Day, Irish-Americans are winding up in the strangest places. On January 26, Cathy O’Brien, the Operations Administrator of the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA), was honored by the Italian-American Soccer League of New York as their Woman of the Year for her enthusiastic support of Olympic Development Program (ODP) trips to Italy.
 
In this winter’s Major League Soccer Draft in Philadelphia, Thomas McNamara was selected with the first pick in the second round by the MLS team with Mexican roots, Chivas USA. Chivas is coached by Wilmer Cabrera, the former Colombian National Team player and Long Island Rough Rider who started coaching in Eastern New York after he retired from playing. Wilmer coached the Huntington Boys Club teams of the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL) and B/W Gottschee of the Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League (CJSL) before he moved on to become the head coach of the United States Boys-Under-17 National Team, then assistant coach of the Colorado Rapids and now head coach of Chivas.
 
Tom describes his first practice in Spring Training as a professional player with Chivas as his best moment ever on a soccer field.
 
The 23-year-old midfielder from West Nyack played as a graduate student at Clemson after competing in just over three seasons at Brown. His exquisite dribbling skill earned him All-Ivy League in 2012 and All-Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013 plus he served as the team captain at Clemson, leading the Tigers to the NCAA tournament.
 
Tom was the first Clemson soccer player selected to the Capital One Academic First Team since 1987 when Jamey Rootes, currently the President of the NFL’s Houston Texans, was picked.

In Eastern New York, Tom played in our Olympic Development Program (ODP) for three years and won four State Open Cups with FC Westchester of the Westchester Youth Soccer League (WYSL).
 
He also served as team captain for Don Bosco Prep and was All-New Jersey, All-North Jersey, All-County and All-League in 2008.

Tom joins another Eastern New York ODP player on Chivas USA as Andrew Jean-Baptiste was traded to the Goats this winter after playing for the Portland Timbers during the past two seasons.

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.