By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
July 20, 2026-Congratulations to the Long Island Futsal Academy (LIFA), who won their second consecutive US Youth Futsal national championship in the Girls HS Division on July 6 in Richmond, Virginia.
“LIFA planned to defend our national title with largely the same group who won it in 2025,” commented coach Chris Sanders. “But three of our players––Gracie Sanders, Leila Racines-Ramero and goalkeeper Anna Torres Martinez––were selected by US Futsal to represent the USA at the 2026 World University Futsal Championship in Warsaw, Poland, taking place the same week. So, we considered withdrawing from Nationals but instead reached out to players throughout the Northeast and Gold Star Futsal from Springfield, Massachusetts, partnered with us so we could field a complete team.”
Key additions included goalkeeper Kinley Logsdon, from the Albany area who trained with LIFA during the past two years because of limited futsal opportunities near home, and field player Taylor Collins.
Coached mainly by Sanders and Paige Palazollo, LIFA finished second in their group by winning over Pittsburgh’s Dragons Futsal, 8-5, plus tying the Canton/Akron Vipers, 4-4, and CSA Futsal of North Carolina, 2-2. They defeated the Vipers, 2-1, in the national championship game.
“We were able to win a second consecutive national championship by being very resilient despite losing key players, collaborating with other teams and building team chemistry through shared training experiences,” Coach Sanders added.
Some of the core players competed in the Boys HS and Girls HS divisions of the Long Island Futsal League last winter when they were not playing in Regionals against other girls’ teams.
“Playing against boys increased the team’s quickness by forcing us to make faster decisions,” Coach Sanders explained. “It also increased our transition awareness as we had to keep up with the boys’ speed and natural desire to push the pace.”
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, east of Route 81. ENYYSA encourages 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 US Soccer and US Youth Soccer. For more information, please log on to http://www.enysoccer.com/By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association