By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
May 27, 2025-It used to be that the position where you played on the soccer field determined your number.
Of a team’s 11 players on the field, number 1 was the goalkeeper, number 9 was the scorer and the number 10 was an attacking player who operates in the spaces between midfield and attack. Both Pelé and Messi made the number 10 jersey famous.
Times have changed and players sometimes select numbers not having to do with their position.
Manchester United and US Women’s National Team goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce was born on October 19, 1996 but when she tried to wear #19 on State Cup champion Farmingdale United over a decade ago, that number was already taken so she reversed it and has worn #91, a highly unusual number for soccer players, ever since.
Mike Ludin started the Huntington Boys Club (HBC) TOPSoccer Program in 1979 so that his son, Craig Ludin, who has Down Syndrome, would have the same opportunities to play soccer as his brothers, Bryan and Evan, did. Craig (in photo) has gone on to win so many medals in the Special Olympics in diverse sports that he was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.
Craig wears #22 as that is a good number in his family. His maternal grandmother, Hannah, was in barrack #22 when Auschwitz was liberated on January 27, 1945. She survived, unlike so many others there including her sister Lilly Kallus.
As World War II was ending, Hannah attended a wedding and a Russian soldier was very aggressive in trying to dance with her. A man named Ernest Greenfeld protected Hannah. They were both from what is now Czechia, were alone, fell in love and married two weeks later.
The Greenfelds moved to Apartment #22 on the East Side of Manhattan. They needed to earn money and Ernest started learning how to become a butcher at the Metropolitan Kosher Butcher on Metropolitan Avenue in Kew Gardens, Queens. They moved across the street to Apartment #222.
Evan’s daughter, Hailey Ludin, plays for the Commack Wildcats of the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL) and she also wears #22 because of all this history.
We’ll conclude this article on a much lighter note as longtime Hudson Valley Youth Soccer League (HVYSL) referee Rich Ceonzo tells the story of cautioning #17 of the blue team and then when the same player committed another foul worthy of a yellow card, he pulled out the yellow and since two yellow cards by the same player is a red card, was going to pull out the red until the player said, “That was not me!” And it was not as that foul was committed by his identical twin wearing #19. Rich thought, “Identical twins wearing virtually the same number?”
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/