Rob D

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

November 4, 2016-The 5th Annual Marianne Volpe 5K and Pumpkin Fun Run last Saturday, October 29 at Baldwin Harbor Park was a smashing success as $31,000 was raised for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Marianne’s husband, Jim Volpe, is Chairperson of the Olympic Development Program (ODP) of the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) so both the soccer and running communities supported this worthy cause in her name. Jim started the run the day before Hurricane Sandy hit the New York metro area in 2012.

”I’d like to thank everyone who supported our family in our battle against blood cancer,” Jim stated. Over $150,000 has been raised in the past five years.

Marianne passed away from Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL), an aggressive form of blood cancer, at the age of 56 on October 14, 2011. There are countless stories of extraordinary people like Marianne whose lives are cut tragically short by this horrible disease.

Shaun, Jim and Chelsea Volpe

Jim and Marianne’s children, Chelsea and Shaun, grew up playing in the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL), then played for Manhattan College and are still involved in the game today as adults.

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 

November 29, 2021-The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) is very pleased that one of our own, Robert Sibiga, has been honored as the 2021 Major League Soccer (MLS) Referee of the Year.

With approximately 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. For more information, please log on to http://www.enysoccer.com/

Yonkers Ukrainians.

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

February 28, 2014-The US Men’s National Team was scheduled to play Ukraine in an international friendly in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on March 5 but the State Department put out a warning on travel to Ukraine and the game was moved to Cyprus.

Here in New York, local Ukrainians are playing their favorite sport while keeping a wary eye on their homeland. The Yonkers Ukrainians play their home games at Tibbetts Brook Park and currently have a 2-4-0 record in the Blue Division of the Eastern District Soccer League (EDSL) plus their Reserve Team's home field is at Saunders Trades and Technical High School in Yonkers. Defender Sergiy Fedorov grew up in Yalta on the Black Sea and came to the United States for the first time in 2002.

“A big thanks to our Parks Department for letting our Reserve Team use Saunders,” Sergiy said, “I am very proud that Eastern New York is concerned with what is happening with Ukrainians, who are fighting for their freedom and their rights.”

Another major Ukrainian team in the metropolitan area is New York Ukrainians, playing at McCarron Park in Greenpoint and sporting a 6-3-1 record in Division 2 of the Cosmopolitan Soccer League (CSL). Although the Ukrainian teams play in different leagues, they have played one another in the Yonkers men’s tournament in June.

The coaches of both the Yonkers Ukrainians and New York Ukrainians have much in common as they both were born in Germany, immigrated to the United States decades ago, are very proud of their Ukrainian heritage yet they have very different views on the current situation.

Yonkers Ukrainians coach Nicholas Skirka said, “(Former President) Yanukovych robbed the country, stuffed his pockets with money which he sent to Switzerland. Ukrainians fought communism for over 70 years and were imprisoned and starved to death going against a tyrant government. We are going from the Soviet Union to a Russian Empire and Ukraine is still not totally free.”

“The Ukrainian country is bankrupt, cannot function economically and not many countries want to deal with us. A trade association with the European Union seemed like a good idea and yet it was not approved. That trade association could act as a bridge between Europe and Russia and I think this collaboration would satisfy everyone’s needs,“ Coach Skirka added. “Ukraine needs to set up a more democratic and pluralistic country if it wants to survive.”

New York Ukrainians coach Steve Kovalenko, an Eastern New York Hall of Famer, struck a more conciliatory tone.

“The situation in Ukraine does not look good,” commented Coach Kovalenko. “I speak both Ukrainian and much Russian, talk to my friends there and you have to see both sides, from those in the Ukrainian-speaking western portion of the country to those who speak Russian in the eastern part of Ukraine. It’s a very difficult situation and there are people trying to divide the country in two which is obviously not a good thing.”

The Ukrainian teams, like much of New York soccer, resume playing outdoor soccer next month which will provide a nice respite from concerns about the volatile situation in their homeland.

Photo of the LIU Post women's soccer team at the fun run. Photo courtesy of LIU Post.

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

December 11, 2015-The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) is very pleased that the 4th Annual Marianne Volpe 5K and Pumpkin Fun Run at Baldwin Park on October 24 was a huge success.
 
27 student-athletes from the LIU Post women’s soccer team were at the fun run, which benefited the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the North Shore Long Island Jewish Monter Cancer Center. They were joined by their entire coaching staff, including head coach Mark Dawson, who also coaches in Eastern New York’s Olympic Development Program (ODP), and assistant coach Josefa Pace, a former ODP coach.

“It was a really great experience for our team. We are always willing and able to do any volunteer work,” said LIU Post graduate women's soccer player Kelsey Ferguson. “It was great to do something different, especially for such a worthy cause, and we would be happy to do it again in the future.”
 
The race honors Marianne Volpe, who passed away from Acute Lymphocitic Leukemia (ALL), an aggressive form of blood cancer, at the age of 56 in 2011.
 
With the counting of donations now completed, $35,000 was raised in total by the more than 500 participants, which included runners, walkers and fans.
 
Marianne was the wife of Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL) Hall of Famer Jim Volpe, currently Eastern New York’s ODP Chairperson. Their children, Chelsea and Shaun, grew up playing in the LIJSL, then played for Manhattan College, are still involved in the game today and obviously were at this big event.

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.

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

September 19, 2017-One man had an idea and the rest became youth soccer history. Back in 1980, concerned with poor behavior at youth soccer games, now US Soccer Life Member Rocco Amoroso created the Sportsmanship Program for the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL), the largest league in the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA).

Rocco understood that only one team can win the game but both squads should respect others while having fun and soccer games became kinder and gentler as soon as the program kicked off.

Rocco was given the nickname of Mr. Sportsmanship as he wrote the guidelines, secured the initial sponsorship of the program and tirelessly promoted it, all as a volunteer. He stressed the important role that sportsmanship plays in the development of a player’s character, which led to the LIJSL adopting “Building Character Through Soccer” as its longtime slogan. The program spread nationally as the LIJSL sent the guidelines of its Sportsmanship Program to every youth soccer association in the United States plus Rocco traveled across the country, speaking about sportsmanship wherever he went until his passing last year at the age of 89. The LIJSL’s Sportsmanship Program was even copied by groups in China and Ireland.

Rocco Amoroso

After every LIJSL regular season game for nearly four decades, the match referee grades each team. The ref rates each squad from 0 to 10 points each on the Cooperation of Players, Cooperation of Coaches, Cooperation of Spectators and Overall Game Conduct plus 0 to 5 points on Player Appearance. If a team has a player sent off or three players cautioned, they receive no points for that game which virtually prevents them for winning the Sportsmanship Award that season.

The points are tallied by LIJSL volunteers under the direction of Sportsmanship Chairperson Rich Baroniunas and the sportsmanship winners in each division are honored and receive a sportsmanship patch, which they proudly wear on the sleeve of their uniform. The Sportsmanship Program is a massive volunteer undertaking as an estimated 380,000 soccer games had the refs rate each team plus league volunteers add up the points and give awards to one team per division since 1980.

Teams often care as much about winning their division’s Sportsmanship Award as they do their division title so coaches and players will log on to the LIJSL website, http://www.lijsoccer.com/pages/index.php, and see what the division standings are for sportsmanship points as well as wins, losses and ties.

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

March 14, 2018-The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) has announced an official youth development partnership with the New York Red Bulls.

“Eastern New York is thrilled to begin this new journey with the New York Red Bulls,” said ENYYSA President Richard Christiano. “We look forward to continuing to enhance the development of our youth players.”

“We are excited to add ENYYSA to the Red Bulls family as a Youth Development Partner,” said Dave Jervis, Senior Director of Training Programs at the New York Red Bulls. “Through this new program, we will be able to extend the Red Bulls’ deep connection to the New York youth soccer community, providing players access to a high-level training environment and a direct connection to the Red Bulls development system.”

Through the partnership, a Young Olympians program will be created, acting as a stepping-stone to Eastern New York’s Olympic Development Program (ODP) with the goal being to develop young talent and expose them to the ENYYSA alongside the Red Bulls player development pathway.

Training locations will be located throughout Queens, Staten Island, Nassau, Suffolk and Hudson counties.

In addition, each player will have the opportunity to be outfitted in an ENYYSA/Red Bull New York branded uniform.

One team of boys and girls from all the targeted regions will be selected to represent the program in a regional festival and tournament at the Red Bulls Training Facility.

Tryouts will be held on Sunday, April 8 and Sunday, April 15. Registration details will be announced shortly, and for more information please visit http://redbullsacademy.com

About RBNY

The New York Red Bulls are one of 23 teams in Major League Soccer (MLS). They are one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having competed in the league since its founding in 1996. They currently play home matches at Red Bull Arena (RBA) in Harrison, New Jersey. RBA, a state-of-the-art 25,000-seat stadium, is widely regarded as the top soccer-specific stadium in North America. The club is owned by the Austrian beverage company Red Bull GmbH for which the team is named. The New York Red Bulls offer one of the nation's premier youth soccer development programs. The club provides grassroots training programs to all ages and skill levels, and also offers elite players a pathway from those programs to the Regional Development School, then on to the academy teams and, ultimately, to the Red Bulls professional team.

About ENYYSA

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 onto 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

If you ask any player at any age the top three things they want out of the game, FUN will be always one in the list. If you ask any coach of any level their top priority when running and planning a session the main objective they will ultimately say, "I want them all have FUN.” For many years we have all insisted its got to be fun and have argued and debated about what fun is. Perhaps one of the most crucial pieces of research that has been done on youth sports in recent years is this report:

The FUN MAPS: A Youth Sport Scientific Breakthrough

Amanda J. Visek, PhD, CC-AASP & Heather M. Manning, M.S.

The George Washington University, Milken Institute School of Public Health, Department of Exercise & Nutrition Sciences

The read is quite a deep one and often the language used is a little scientific. That being said, if you have the time and inclination, it is a vital read for any youth coach. In broad strokes the report informs us of the following key points

There are many FUN determinates. In fact, in the final analysis, there are 81 things that make sports fun for youth players.

All 81 can be broken down into the 11 broad categories noted below

A) Games
B) Team Friendships
C) Learning and improving
D) Practice
E) Trying Hard
F) Mental Bonuses
G) Being A good sport
H) Team Rituals
I) Swag /Gear
J) Game Time Support
K) Positive Coaching

I believe that if you have a group of enthusiastic coaches who had spent time getting more educated in youth soccer and teaching as the sport and learning theories have evolved, they would eventually hit all 11. What they probably could not do is successfully prioritize the list to see what players value most.

“To start your tour, begin at Being a Good Sport. Next stop? Trying Hard. Final destination? Positive Coaching. These three fun factors are of greatest importance when it comes to making sports fun for kids and as such tower above other factors of minimal importance, such as Team Rituals and Swag.”

–Amanda J. Visek, PhD, CC-AASP & Heather M. Manning, M.S.

When you delve a little deeper into the fun map research you discover that the cluster noted in A-K above when placed in order of importance look like this

1) Positive Team Dynamics 
2) Trying Hard
3) Positive Coaching 
4) Learning and Improving 
5) Game Time Support 
6) Games 
7) Practices 
8) Team Friendships
9) Mental Bonuses 
10) Team Rituals 
11) Swag 

When you look even deeper into the research, it shows that the three specific determinants listed below are considered most important

1) Trying Your Best
2) When a coach treats you with respect
3) Being supported by teammates

I believe in a youth soccer landscape where player attrition rates continue to be alarmingly high, that both coaches and parents pay a good deal of attention to the “FUN MAP” study. Make it the topic of your next parent conversation! For coaches and parents brave enough to embrace the idea of change, they are essential. If we can truly get to the bottom of why youth players enjoy the sport, we perhaps have a good chance of giving them what they want.

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

October 5, 2016-The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) is very pleased to announce that Juan Alvarado of the Metrokids Interegional Soccer League is being honored as our 2016 Administrator of the Year and he will receive his award at Eastern New York's Holiday Party on Sunday, December 4 at Marina del Rey in the Bronx.

Soccer was part of Juan’s daily routine growing up in Lima, Peru. At the age of 20, he arrived in New York.

“For the great majority of immigrants, work is a priority, but on my days off, I would play in Brooklyn from 1998 to 2004, which is when I stopped playing regularly so I could take my two sons to start playing soccer, with them being 9 and 11 years old at that time,“ he stated. “My search for a soccer school with the proper development and training led us to the Academia Argentina, which has played in Flushing Meadows Park since 1996.“

Juan then became involved with the club, which names its boys teams after Argentinian club teams such as Boca Juniors, River Plate, San Lorenzo and Newell’s Old Boys. He was elected club President in 2006 and also serves the club currently as Sports Director.

Juan was elected Metrokids’ Secretary in 2006, then re-elected in 2008. He is currently serving the league in the Board position of Manager. In this role, Juan’s smiling face has become a fixture at Eastern New York’s General Meetings in Rockland County.

The Ozone Park resident was nominated by Metrokids President Cesar Juca, who wrote “Juan keeps working with league members and clubs to continue growing in education to meet the requirements of Eastern New York and US Soccer. He works with Eastern New York League Presidents to improve the competition level for all its players and continuously strives to obtain fields for the Metrokids in New York City.“

Congratulations to Juan Alvarado, Eastern New York’s 2016 Administrator of the Year.

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

It is an exciting time in US Soccer with an election for a new President, the forthcoming hire of a new head coach for the men’s national team, announcements of new additions to the Development Academy program and, perhaps more important than any of these, real and substantial changes to the US Soccer education pathway that will impact thousands of youth players and parent/coaches.

The education pathway has had major philosophical changes at the entry level. These changes along with a great introduction to the new philosophy can be found in the digital coaching center at https://dcc.ussoccer.com/classroom/1546/candidate/details

For those not aware, the digital coaching center is US Soccer’s online educational platform that houses all coaching course information and content. It is a good tool for any coach to familiarize themselves with, and contains session plans, session designer tools, US Soccer Player Development Initiatives and lots of other great information.

The new grass roots courses (4v4, 7v7, 9v9 and 11 V11) are now all designed with the following key points in mind:

1. There is a strong desire to make soccer the most popular sport in the US and to achieve this we need hundreds of thousands parent coaches to get an introduction to teaching the game.

2. This introduction to the game via the new 4-hour licenses should be as low cost and low barrier (in terms of testing and pressure) as possible.

3. These introductory licenses should be fun, engaging, holistic and age specific

4. These courses should be taught by an experienced and more educated group of instructors than ever. In this area, I can testify that over the last 16 months, US Soccer has invested a huge amount of time, money and resources in educating the 540 grass roots instructors throughout the country that will be tasked with delivering the new courses.

5. Philosophically, the new courses are built on a Play-Practice-Play methodology. This methodology steeped in small-sided games combined with realty-based training is anti-drills, laps, lines and lectures and is one that most reflects the street soccer environments found around the world.

6. Unlike all past courses that have been purely focused on helping coaches provide better training sessions, the new courses are designed to help parent/coaches with all aspects of coaching. The new courses have tasks and assignments that help a parent/coach with all the work they must do– coaching games, coaching training sessions, leading the player, leading the team, managing the performance environment and leadership are all covered.

7. The new holistic approach is also steeped in player development and having parent/coaches who attend understand that their players are people first and athletes second. All need individual attention and time to fulfil their potential.

The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association and its 14 educational instructors will be offering the new courses from Jan 31 onwards and I would encourage all clubs and leagues to consider offering one or more of these key courses sometime this spring. To offer the new courses please note the following logistical information

A) All courses are 4 hours – 2 on the field and 2 in the classroom

B) All courses are designed to have a teaching ratio of between 1:12 and 1:14

C) The courses are designed to be taught in the following segments 1-hour classroom, 2 hours field,1-hour classroom. They can also be taught in a 2 hour -2 hour format.

D) All courses–4v4,7v7,9v9 and 11v11–follow the Player Development Initiatives and all need age appropriate players 4v4 (U8), 7v7 (U10), 9v9 (U12) and 11v11 (U13 and up).

E) In Eastern New York, the Grass Roots licenses are currently set to be priced at $75 per coach.

Any coach, club or league looking for more information on the new grass roots courses can email me directly at TBradbury@enysoccer.com

By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
 
June 12, 2018-The Levittown Rage of the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL) eked out a 1-0 win over Eleftheria/Pancyprian Spartans of the Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League (CJSL), to take the Boys-Under-18 State Open Cup. This state championship game was played on June 9 at the Peter Collins Soccer Park in Plainview.

“We played Eleftheria/Pancyprian before, winning 7-1 on turf,” commented Levittown coach Manfred Kapper. “They are very well-coached and we could not adjust to their rhythm and played more kick-and-run, unfortunately, than our normal possession game.”

John Murphy scored the only goal of the game and Levittown’s Mavin Kakkar had the shutout in goal.

Levittown will represent the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) at the Regionals from June 29 to July 3 in Spotsylvania, Virginia as part of the National Championship Series.
 
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 onto http://www.enysoccer.com/, which receives nearly 300,000 hits annually from the growing soccer community.