By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
December 14, 2024-The Hudson Valley Youth Soccer League (HVYSL) added five new members to its Hall Of Fame at a dinner on December 8 at Cosimo’s Trattoria in Poughkeepsie. The five honorees were the first to be inducted into the HVYSL Hall of Fame since 2019.
Luiz Amaral has coached in the Washingtonville Soccer Club with great success for over 25 years. He is held in very high regard as a role model and mentor to his players and has always been active in assisting the club in any way he can.
Dimitri Giatrakis, already a member of the Eastern New York Hall of Fame, was honored for his work in over 40 years of coaching as well as his work as Technical Director for both Hudson Valley’s Academy program and Eastern New York’s Olympic Development Program (ODP) North boys and girls programs. One of his ODP teams reached the National ODP chamionship game and he brought the current US Men’s National team keeper, Matt Turner, into soccer as a youth and developed him as a keeper when Matt played for Clarkstown in the Eastern New York Premier League.
Phil Larkin has been an active member of the Carmel United Soccer Club for 42 years and counting. He has been an active board member serving in many different roles (referee assignor, field coordinator, board member) in addition to his years as a coach, referee and mentor.
Dean Martin volunteered as President of the Brewster United Soccer Club for many years after having served in other board positions before that. He has been their Field Coordinator and still serves as a mentor to both new and inexperienced coaches and board members. In addition, he came out of retirement to coach a Girls-Under-12 team so they would not be forced to disband.
Eddie Moloney is a longtime coach for the Washingtonville Soccer Club with 25 years plus and counting. Eddie has served as a club administrator, working virtually daily on maintaining their field complex plus coordinating use of field time. Additionally, Eddie is an active referee and the club’s referee assignor plus he also mentors young referees.
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 10 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 US Youth Soccer. For more information, please log on to http://www.enysoccer.com/