By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
October 17, 2017-The Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL), the largest league in the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA), is pleased to host a Club Development Day on Sunday, October 22 from 3 to 5 pm at the Peter Collins Soccer Park on Old Country Road in Plainview.
The third and last Club Development Day this fall will be on Sunday, November 5 from 1 to 3 pm, also at the Collins Soccer Park in Plainview. If both days go as well as the first one on September 23, then Long Island youth soccer players will be having a great deal of fun.
Three weeks ago, more than 180 Under-7 and Under-8 intramural players from LIJSL member clubs located in Suffolk, Nassau and Queens came together at this event in a festival-style format.
Photo montage from Club Development Day on September 23 at the Peter Collins Soccer Park
“Our goal is to give the intramural players from the participating clubs a different game experience than simply playing within their own clubs,” commented LIJSL Technical Director Ronan Wiseman.
That sentiment was supported by those in attendance that day.
“Club Development Days present an opportunity for our players to play soccer with friends as well as with players from other towns,” noted Joel Sklar, Executive VP of Plainview/Old Bethpage Soccer Club. “Parents get the chance to see them compete without worrying who wins and loses.”
Sean Peckett, President and Director of Coaching of Queensborough United, concurred, “The children get to play! They love playing the game and trying to implement the skills they have been learning at their practice sessions and the chance to test those skills against other players and teams. The children get to bond off the field between the breaks in play and form closer friendships”.
Scott Dorsey, a Kings Park Soccer Club Board member, who was attending his second Club Development Day, noted, “We like how the format teaches the game from the back, how to move the ball up the field…Kids get more touches (on the ball) and get to see that what they’re being taught is working by using skills in these games.”
The objective seems to have been achieved by the comments received from Meghan Knott, a coach with the Terryville Soccer Club, “I am writing on behalf of the Terryville Lady Jaguars U8 team. Thank you for a great day yesterday! It was the first ‘tournament-like’ experience for our girls and it was very positive. Thank you for all your hard work and for making this possible for the players. We will be attending another date.”
For more information on Club Development Days, please contact Ronan Wiseman at ronanw@lijsoccer.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 to http://www.enysoccer.com/, which receives nearly 300,000 hits annually from the growing soccer community.