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Being a Good Soccer Parent

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

It seems there is a need to be very specific with the types of behavior that are expected from the soccer parents that help support the culture that should exist within youth sports. Sadly, it appears that in many clubs, the parents are left in a vacuum with little or no support. Please consider the list below as what might be considered as reliable guideposts that if all followed, the kids would be having much more fun!

Brooklyn’s Noah Leeds is Moving to Spain to Play for Sevilla FC’s Youth Academy After Impressing Spanish Scouts

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

August 6, 2014-Noah Leeds, a 13-year-old midfielder who has grown up playing in New York City youth soccer, is set to move with his family to Spain after he was offered a place in Sevilla FC’s youth academy.

He started playing soccer with Brooklyn AYSO, coached by his father Jon, when he was just four years old. At the age of six, he began playing with SC Gjoa of the Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League (CJSL) on their Boys-Under-8 squad. Noah also played for two other CJSL clubs, Manhattan Kickers and CDC New York United, always playing against boys two years older. He also competed for the New York Red Bulls Academy.

“Noah was traveling over two hours to Newark from his school, Mark Twain, to train with Red Bulls and getting home at 11:30 pm,” said his father Jon Leeds. “It was all very stressful, emotionally and financially, on our family so we decided to withdraw two winters ago and train full-time with Phillip Martin, his coach with the Manhattan Kickers who runs Total Futbol Development.”

Noah’s silky skills have been on display in the winter when he played for Total Futbol Development in New York Futsal, which just like the CJSL, plays under the umbrella of the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA).

“Noah has great work habits, a winning mentality and is super competitive,” commented Coach Martin. “Yet he’s a really sweet teammate and a great kid!”

The opportunity, still a relatively rare one for American youth players, to join one of Spain's most respected soccer academies came about through an amazing combination of boldness and good fortune.

Jon and Noah traveled to Seville in June, visiting the club to request a tryout, but were rebuffed at first, with Sevilla officials saying that Noah would have to be identified and invited by club scouts first.

Just before they were scheduled to leave the country and return home, a local restaurant manager spotted Noah juggling a ball as the family walked to dinner. Impressed with his skills, the restaurateur connected the Leeds family with a friend in Sevilla's scouting department and a tryout was arranged.

The trip was extended, Noah continued to shine and he was offered a longer-term stay. The family––Jon, Noah, mother Suzy and younger brother Zach––plan to relocate to southern Spain before the end of the summer and is starting intensive Spanish lessons in order to adapt.

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.

Eileen Fiore Receives the Patricia Louise Masotto and Brenda Driscoll Scholarship

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

August 7, 2017-The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) is very happy to announce that Eileen Fiore is receiving a Patricia Louise Masotto and Brenda Driscoll Scholarship, which is based on academic and athletic success as well as community service. The scholarship’s namesakes were best friends and top women’s soccer players from Massapequa, Long Island. Eastern New York set up a scholarship in their name after they were killed by a drunk driver in 1985.

Eileen started playing soccer when she was just four years old and currently plays for the Rhinebeck Breakers of the East Hudson Youth Soccer League (EHYSL).

In her hometown of Poughkeepsie, she volunteered for seemingly every organization there is including the Samuel Morse Estate, Grace Smith House, a Veterans Day Memorial Service, community theater, physical therapy mentor and Christmas caroling at a nursing home. At Spackenkill High School, she played varsity soccer for six years, varsity basketball for three years, varsity softball for three years and ran varsity track for one.

She wrote in her essay, “On October 31, 2015, my world changed as I tore my ACL in the Section 9 Class B girl’s soccer final. After that game, I began a year-long tortuous rehabilitation and recovery that changed me. During this time, I was detached from everything I loved. I was in constant pain, couldn’t walk for three months and endured grueling physical therapy for nine months. I was losing weight like I never had before and was pushing away friends. Then I went to see a therapist and was diagnosed with Environmental Change Depression. I decided that I could no longer let myself spiral into this hole I was digging. I worked hard and slowly my knee started to heal and I was beginning to feel the way I had before.”

Sporting a protective compression sleeve over her right knee, Eileen regained most of her skills as a scorer and led Spackenkill to a sixth consecutive section title last fall, exactly a year after she tore her ACL. We wish Eileen the best as she studies and plays soccer at Manhattanville College.

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.

The Eastern New York Soccer Hall of Fame Inducts Vincenzo Valente

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From left to right: Eastern New York State Adult Soccer Association First Vice President Albino Guimaraes, 2015 Hall of Fame inductee Vincenzo Valente and Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association President Richard Christiano.

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

December 17, 2015-Congratulations to Vincenzo Valente, the newest member of the Eastern New York Soccer Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony took place at the 2015 Holiday Party organized by both the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) and Eastern New York State Adult Soccer Association on December 6 at Marina del Rey in the Bronx.

Vincenzo grew up playing soccer in Bari, Italy. He emigrated to the United States and lived in the Bronx when he was not serving in the Armed Forces from 1959 to 1961. He joined Mount Carmelo’s CYO and played many games at Van Cortland Park.

In 1972, Vincenzo founded a soccer club, Associazione Sportiva Bisceglie, named after the part of southeastern Italy where he grew up. The club joined the Italian-American Soccer League (IASL) and in its inaugural season of 1973-74, the team received Coppa Disciplina, the IASL Sportsmanship Award.

Two years later, Vincenzo was elected Recording Secretary of the adult soccer association and started serving on multiple committees.

In 1989, he partnered with Adult Soccer Association president Sal Rapaglia and Vito Bavaro, President of the Bagnarese team from New Jersey, to form the Northeast Super Soccer League, the closest thing to a professional outdoor soccer league in the New York metro area at the time after the folding of the original North American Soccer League in 1985. Vincenzo served as the Northeast League’s president and started a joint venture with the Hellenic-American Soccer League in 1995, a year before Major League Soccer kicked off.

In 1990, Vincenzo, along with Sal Rapaglia and Alfonso Vargas, got the construction of the Cropsey Avenue Fields in Brooklyn off the ground.

Now retired and living in South Setauket, Long Island, Vincenzo enjoys watching his grandchildren play the beautiful game.

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.

ENYYSA GRIEVANCE DECISION

In June 2020, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (‘ENYYSA’) issued media release announcing that, ‘NYCSL [New York Club Soccer League] will be joining ENYYSA starting immediately for the 2020/2021 soccer year.’ The release stated that to accomplish this result: ‘NYCSL’s players and teams will register as a new division of CJSL [Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League].’

In July 2021, ENYYSA issued a press release stating in relevant part that:
‘Effective immediately, ENYYSA will no longer sanction any NYCSL (New York Club Soccer League) soccer programming (leagues, tournaments, competitions, clinics, etc.). US Youth Soccer Association player passes issued by ENYYSA are not valid for any NYCSL competitions.’

As a result, CJSL and NYCSL filed a grievance against the July 2021 decision of ENYYSA with US Soccer. The impartial and independent Hearing Panel hearing that grievance determined that the decision of ENYYSA should be and is reversed with immediate effect. As a result, the parties are put back in the position they were in before the above quoted announcement of ENYYSA was made, and NYCSL is an affiliate of CJSL with all the rights for itself and its athletes and other affiliated participants as existed before the July 2021 press release was issued by ENYYSA.” A copy of the decision on the grievance is attached.

CJSL NYCSL v ENYYSA Grievance Decision 12.16.22 (PDF) >>

The Long Island Junior Soccer League Hires Ronan Wiseman as Technical Director

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

April 29, 2016-The Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL), the largest league in the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) with 1,490 travel teams, is very pleased to announce that Ronan Wiseman has become the league’s new Technical Director.

”With the challenges presented by the mandated US Soccer's new Best Practices/Player Development Initiatives, and to assist our league, member clubs, coaches and players to facilitate and implement these changes, we are pleased to appoint Ronan Wiseman as Technical Director of the LIJSL,” announced League President Anthony Maresco.

As Technical Director, Ronan assumes responsibilities for the oversight, development and implementation of the league’s coaching services in support of its 101 member clubs, in addition to his present responsibility as Director of Coaching for the LIJSL’s Player Development Program.

Ronan grew up in Dundalk in County Louth, Ireland and is a graduate of Adelphi University, where he earned a BBA in Business Finance and MS in Banking and Money Management. While at Adelphi, he captained the Panthers through some of the most successful years of the men’s soccer team, including an appearance in the Elite Eight stage of the NCAA playoffs in 1987.

Ronan then played professionally in the North East Professional Super League, the Hellenic Professional Soccer League and the United Soccer League (USL) during the challenging time after the collapse of the original North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1985 and before the kick-off of Major League Soccer in 1996. He completed his professional playing career with the Long Island Rough Riders of the USL “A” League.

The East Meadow resident has coached numerous college programs including LIU Post, the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, Adelphi University and Hofstra University. He was also the head coach for the Rough Riders from 2004 to 2006. While coaching at Adelphi, he worked as a US Soccer Region 1 Staff Evaluator, identifying and selecting elite youth soccer players for the US National Team Programs.

Ronan is also currently the assistant youth director for the New York Cosmos of the NASL and Director of Coaching for the LIJSL’s East Islip Soccer Club. He holds the prestigious US Soccer “A” License, one of 46 coaches to do so in Eastern New York, and is a member of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and the United States Soccer Coaches Organization.

Making ODP More Inclusive & Less Expensive!

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

November 12, 2012-The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) is improving its Olympic Development Program (ODP). ODP, considered the highest level of competition in the state, recently hired Jose Luis Rebay as Technical Director.

A native of Buenos Aires and current resident of Bay Shore, Long Island, Coach Rebay played professionally in both South America and the United States plus holds a United States Soccer Federation National-A Coaching License. He has coached Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL) teams in Dix Hills, HBC and Massapequa during the past decade, winning two State Cups along the way. Coach Rebay has served as a Region 1 ODP coach since 1997 and as coach of Eastern New York ODP since 2000.

Every year, players throughout Eastern New York have an opportunity to be evaluated by the ODP professional staff of coaches for a position on each age-specific team. Because of the large geographic region and population that Eastern New York encompasses, ENYYSA has both North and South ODP squads in all age groups and both genders from Under-12 to Under-17.

"With the changes planned for 2013, every player in Eastern New York will have a real opportunity to try out for ODP," commented ENYYSA Trustee Julian DiDonato. "Over 90% of the players within Eastern New York will be within 30 minutes or less of an ODP tryout field. We’re trying not to overlook anyone no matter where they live in Eastern New York."

Under-12 to Under-15 Divisions (based on calendar year of birth). Two tryouts will be held in March 2013 at 10 locations throughout ENYYSA, from Long Island to the Capital District to Central New York State. A player is not limited to where he/she can try out and can try out in more than one location. Registration is required for each location. All tryout results will be posted to the ENYYSA website, http://www.enysoccer.com/, under ODP. Players identified at the tryouts will attend the State ID Training starting in April 2013 with dates and locations to be announced.

The fee is $35 for an affiliate player who "pre-registers" or $45 for on-site registration. For non-affiliated players, meaning those players that are not registered with a league or club affiliated with ENYYSA, the fee is $250. Each player will receive a numbered tryout t-shirt, which is required to be brought to all tryout sessions. Registration is open until February, 2013.

"The pricing is structured to be very affordable. If you are selected to be part of the State ODP pool, your total fee for the tryouts and training sessions would be $185," commented Mr. DiDonato. "Tryouts will be held throughout Eastern New York. For example, there’s plenty of talent in Manhattan and Staten Island but this is the first time that we will be holding ODP tryouts in those boroughs of New York City. With these changes, we expect to increase our talent pool, offering the elite youth soccer players in Eastern New York the full benefits of being a part of ODP."

Under-16 and Under-17 Divisions. No tryouts, move directly to State ID Training. Players in the program the prior year will be invited back to participate in the State ID Training, starting in April. Any premier and/or elite player who did not participate previously can be recommended by a League/Club President, Director of Coaching, League Select Coach or an USSF/NSCAA National Licensed Coach. A Recommendation Form is now available online at the ENYYSA website, http://www.enysoccer.com/, under ODP. Player recommendations will be reviewed by the ODP staff, and if accepted, that player will be invited to the first training session.

With these changes ODP, which was a year-round program for many years, is now just from March to July with a great reduction in traveling for ODP families. All the details about the selection process and costs can be found at http://www.enysoccer.com/ under ODP.

The Love of the Game

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

So many cliched phrases are thrown around soccer and used so frequently that they often lose their meaning. "For the love of the game" is perhaps the most well-known.

Although I might be qualified to discuss “Love of the game” through many different lenses, due to amount of games and level I was lucky enough to play at, or even from a fan perspective as I travelled around the UK on trains created specifically for soccer fans (called Specials) for quite a number of years as a kid, I want to focus in this on a very specific “Love of the game."

The “Love of the game” I want to discuss is the love that is created at a very early age when a well-educated and dedicated coach gets to work with a group of 5, 6- or 7-year-olds. This is really the age group that should get the best coaches in any club. It is also the age group where most parent initiatives and soccer learning should take place.

The characteristics and knowledge needed to create the special environment where a “Love of the game” can be forged are noted below.

Key Knowledge

• Cognitive development

• Social development

• Physical development

• Cultural influences. Yes, a 7 year old in Barcelona will have different skill sets than one in New York

• Dr. Amanda Visek Fun Integration Theory

• Some soccer content: Dribbling, short passing and first touch is enough.

How Kids Learn

With the above knowledge and the key characteristics noted below, a coach can create a soccer environment that can cause a deep love for the game that ensures a players first step in the game are solid ones that go on and on.

Key Characteristics

• Energetic

• Animated

• Caring

• Capable of being childlike, not childish

• Storyteller

• Body language guru

• Teacher attributes. Concise, short ideas presented in little time to get kids active all the time.

What is oddly American and tragically true in youth soccer is that there is a belief that the young ones do not need a real coach and anyone who can set up a game and can coach these young players. Nothing could be less true and for any Club Presidents or Directors of Coaching that read this, I urge you to consider how much energy and time you invest in this key age group. After all, whose job is it to ensure we can provide environments and coaches who inspire a "Love of the game?"

Barca Academy Win the Boys-Under-14 State Open Cup

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

June 14, 2021-It was obvious that a team with the word “Academy” in its name would win the Boys-Under-14 State Open Cup as the final on June 5 in LaGrange featured Barca Academy NY Pro and B/W Gottschee Pre-Academy. Off a late winning goal by Dylan Thomas, Barca prevailed, 3-2, to take the Howard Rubenstein Cup back to Long Island.

Now living in Kentucky, 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 (LIJSL).

Barca will represent Eastern New York at the East Regionals from June 25 to July 1 in Hammonton, New Jersey as part of the National Championship Series.

Barca also received the Rocco Amoroso Sportsmanship Award, as determined by the game officials. Amoroso, a US Soccer Life Member who died five years ago, started the

LIJSL

Sportsmanship Program in 1980 and it spread to Eastern New York, nationally and then to China and Ireland, and in the process, made soccer games kinder and gentler.

Profiles of All the State Open Cup Champion Teams

Congratulations to these 18 teams who won the State Open Cup championship on June 4 and 5 at Stringham Park in LaGrange while the Under-19s played their finals on June 11 at the Peter Collins Soccer Park in Plainview. Click on their names to read a profile of each team:

BU12 Small-Sided-Clifton Park Cobras

GU12 Small-Sided-Syracuse Development Academy

BU12-Staten Island United Dinamo Jrs.

GU12-Smithtown Panthers

BU13-Oceanside Strikers

GU13-Levittown Wildcats

BU14-Staten Island United Hibs

GU14-West Islip Wildcats

BU15-Smithtown Chelsea

GU15-HBC Impact

BU16-Dix Hills Hurricanes

GU16-New York Rush Rowdies