By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
April 20, 2017-The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) is hosting small-sided festivals on Sundays this spring at Kissena Park in Queens. It’s similar to what Eastern New York’s largest league, the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL), is doing with small-sided games on Sundays this spring at the Peter Collins Soccer Park in Plainview as both Eastern New York and the LIJSL provide fun and fundamentals in developing young players.
Eastern New York’s festivals kicked off on Sunday, April 9. The four Under-7 teams played 4 vs. 4 with no goalkeeper and the four Under-8 squads had fun 5 vs. 5 with a keeper. The teams playing were all-boys as well as coed teams with the hope that girls squads will play in the future. The fields are 40 x 20 yards with no refs in sight and festivals will also be played on April 30 (11:30 am to 2:00 pm), May 7 (3:30 to 5:30 pm) and May 14 (noon to 2:30 pm).
Andreas Touros, Trustee for Eastern New York, is organizing the festivals and stated, “All kids, coaches and parents enjoyed the friendly festival get together and they were asking about returning to Kissena Park to play again in a few weeks.”
Any clubs interested in hosting or playing in a small-sided festival should contact Andreas at 917-747-5159 or nykosmos1997@aol.com
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 tohttp://www.enysoccer.com/, which receives nearly 300,000 hits annually from the growing soccer community.