Human Interest

Staten Island’s Adri Mehmeti Earns His First Caps With the US Men’s National Team

By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association

October 9, 2026-Sometimes, kids playing recreational soccer in the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) wind up representing the USA internationally a decade later. That’s what happened to Adri Mehmeti, now 17 years old and playing for the Red Bulls.

Richmondtown Rampage photo. Adri is circled, coach Joey Caruana Jr. is on the left and coach Anthony Cosenza is on the right. Photo courtesy of Joey Caruana Jr.

Adri (AHH-dree) started playing soccer when he was two years old. His first team was a recreational side, the Richmondtown Rampage of the Staten Island Youth Soccer League (SIYSL), and he played in Richmondtown for two years.

“Adri was really, really talented and hard working. He was great, a real sweetheart who stood out from the rest of the players,” explained Richmondtown coach Joey Caruana Jr. “His father Vani is very passionate about the sport.”

Vani Mehmeti grew up in Albania and played for a semipro team in Greece before emigrating to the USA where he played for New York Albanians in 2007-08, Kofrabi for 5.5 years and then FC Ulqini, all in the Cosmopolitan Soccer League.

Adri playing for Staten Island United in 2016 on left and at home on the right. Photos courtesy of the Mehmeti family.

Adri moved on to play for the SIYSL’s Staten Island United, then for Red Bulls Academy. Vani would schedule night shifts for the trucking company he owns so that he could drive him to the Red Bulls’ practices in New Jersey in the afternoon. As Adri continued to develop, he played for the Boys-Under-15 National Youth Teams for both the USA and Albania.

His proud father recalled, “Playing for Albania there, he scored a goal with nearly 100 of our relatives watching.”

Adri made his professional debut as a 16-year-old with the Red Bulls and the midfielder is now a fixture in their starting line-up at age 17.

An additional proud moment for the Mehmeti family was when Adri came on as a second-half substitute, replacing another Eastern New York product, Tyler Adams, for the US Men’s National Team in their 4-1 win over Peru on September 26 in Orlando.

“I cannot put into words how great it is that Adri is playing for the US Men’s National Team. It’s a dream come true,” his father said. “I met my wife, Adri’s mother, here, he was born here and developed here. We have become successful in the United States.”

The future looks bright for Adri and the US Men’s National Team. In the recently-completed international window, he played in three games, coming in as a sub against Peru and Canada plus starting against Chile, which were all victories for the red, white and blue.

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/

Richard Christiano Honored With Life Membership

By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association

September 30, 2026-The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) is very pleased to announce that Richard Christiano has been given Life Membership, soccer’s equivalent of the Lifetime Achievement Award. The unanimous vote took place at the ENYYSA Annual General Meeting last Saturday, September 26 at the Sonesta Hotel in White Plains.

In his nomination letter, Ken Gulmi wrote that “I have worked with Rich for over 35 years. He is a tireless worker, a terrific advocate for the kids in our programs and is responsible for many of the positive changes that we have come to take for granted.”

Richie, who recently retired as ENYYSA President, volunteered an amazing 56 years in youth soccer. He served as a coach for the New Hyde Park Wildcats for 17 years and a decade as their Board member. He volunteered for over a decade as a Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL) Vice President, greatly improving the LIJSL Select Program during this time, and seven years as an ENYYSA Vice President. Richie served 11 years as Chairperson of the State Referee Committee and for five years as Director of the Olympic Development Program (ODP).

The Floral Park resident volunteered for 16 years as ENYYSA President, the second-longest tenure after Peter Masotto’s 22 years in charge. One of his major accomplishments as President is bringing more fiscal responsibility to the non-profit organization.

For all this volunteering, Richie was inducted into the LIJSL Hall of Fame in 2010, the Eastern New York Hall of Fame in 2011 and was honored as the Region 1 Volunteer of the Year in 2016.

Richie commented to the office staff as well as the Board of Directors, “I want to thank you all for making my job as President fun and exciting over the years. As a group, we have accomplished a lot together for the membership. It’s been my honor to have the privilege to have worked with all of you and all the past Board members.”

Jimmy Svendsen Elected President of the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association

By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association

September 28, 2026-The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) welcomes James Svendsen as our new President after the retirement of Richard Christiano, who faithfully served as ENYYSA President for the past 16 years. The Presidential election took place at the ENYYSA Annual General Meeting this past Saturday, September 26 at the Sonesta Hotel in White Plains.

“I am honored and excited to have the opportunity to serve as President of Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association. ENYYSA has a proud history, and I look forward to working with our leagues, clubs, coaches, referees, volunteers and families to build on that foundation,” our new President explained. “One of my first priorities will be to listen. Youth soccer continues to evolve, and I believe it is important that we bring people together, hear different perspectives and make sure Eastern New York is positioned to meet both the opportunities and challenges ahead to create the best possible experience for our players. This is an important time for youth soccer, with the evolving relationship and increased alignment between US Soccer and US Youth Soccer, changes that have the potential to reshape the youth soccer landscape.”

President Svendsen is a soccer lifer who played as a kid for SC Gjøa in the Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League (CJSL) for a decade, starting off as an 8-year-old in 1973 at the start of the youth soccer boom.

Jimmy began coaching the Boys-Under-10 Scandinavian Sports Club Vikings in 1980. It was a rapid rise up the volunteer ladder as he became a CJSL Trustee two years later. In 1984, Jimmy started coaching in the CJSL Select Program.

Jimmy volunteered for two tours of duty as CJSL President, from 1998-2000 and again from 2016-18. He also had two tours of duty as Gjøa’s Youth Director.

In 2005, he received Lifetime Membership, soccer’s version of the Lifetime Achievement Award, for both the CJSL and Gjøa. In 2013, he was inducted into the CJSL Hall of Fame and received the same honor from Gjøa in 2016. He was inducted into the Eastern New York Hall of Fame in 2017.

Jimmy held nearly every position on the CJSL Executive Board since Emil Cohill asked him to become involved with the Board in 1982. He spent more than two decades as the CJSL Treasurer. He also volunteered on the ENYYSA Board previously as Treasurer and Trustee.

The Glenwood Landing resident was the Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Technology at the New Hyde Park-Garden City Park School District for nearly a decade. After his retirement from that position three years ago, he consults for school districts now.He served for two years on the North Shore School District Board of Education and recently resigned from that position so he could volunteer as Eastern New York’s President.

Svendsen concluded, “I want to thank Richie Christiano for his many years of leadership and service to ENYYSA. Richie has dedicated an incredible amount of time and energy to the game and to our Association. I’m grateful for his support during this transition and look forward to building upon the work he and so many others have done for Eastern New York soccer.”

Nominations Now Open For the Of the Year Awards

By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association

September 24, 2026-The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) is asking that each person, club and league turn their attention inwards to their volunteers and outstanding members in an effort to acknowledge those whose contributions have truly made a difference. We’re seeking nominations for a variety of awards to demonstrate our appreciation for the hours of devotion these valued individuals give to our players.

Eastern New York will select a person in each category who will receive recognition at our Hall of Fame Banquet in early 2027 plus receive possible additional recognition at the National level, which includes some rather nice prizes. For the past two years, Eastern New York has received a nomination in nearly every category because our members took the time to nominate somebody.

The entries are on an online form that is linked below and please complete as comprehensively as possible.

Awards will be presented in the following categories:

Boys Competitive Coach of the Year

Girls Competitive Coach of the Year

Boys Recreation Coach of the Year

Girls Recreation Coach of the Year

TOPSoccer Coach of the Year

TOPSoccer Buddy of the Year

Administrator of the Year

Volunteer of the Year

Young Male Referee of the Year

Young Female Referee of the Year

Nominations for the above awards must be received by November 20, 2026 to be considered.

As with everything else, your nominees have to be in it to win it! Please take the opportunity to recognize your best and brightest through this great awards program.

Get Back on the Soccer Scene By Becoming a Referee

By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association

September 8, 2026-As the summer tournaments have concluded and the Fall Season kicks off this month, some adults are feeling withdrawal symptoms since the soccer team they coached or watched for years has aged out of youth soccer. And there are players whose team has also graduated from youth soccer who are thinking about a new challenge.

Stay involved with the Beautiful Game by becoming a youth soccer referee or assistant ref. There are many wonderful things that happen when a person starts to ref including learning more about the game from a different perspective, learning to manage people, staying or becoming fit, earning money and expanding yourself by leaving your comfort zone.

Photo courtesy of the Long Island Junior Soccer League

The growth of the membership and programs of the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) has created a continuous need for more soccer referees and assistant refs. There are certification classes held throughout Eastern New York.

The minimum age is 14 years old to become certified and the certification class consists of online learning, a Zoom meeting and a field session. For more information, log on to https://enysreferee.org/how-to-become-a-referee/. If you have any questions, e-mail questions@enysreferee.org

Local Soccer Events Raise Money For Breast Cancer Support

By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association

August 25, 2026-With 320,000 women diagnosed annually with breast cancer, including 17,000 New Yorkers, two local soccer events run each year by dozens of enthusiastic volunteers were played in August to raise money against the disease.

The 19th Annual Goals For Hope Tournament, featuring many alumni from the Hudson Valley Youth Soccer League (HVYSL) and other Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) leagues, was played on Sunday, August 2 at Stringham Park in LaGrange. Six men’s teams and 15 women’s squads competed on a cloudy day in the Hudson Valley.

Through tournament sponsorships, donations and raffles, including donations from US Men’s National Team player Tyler Adams of Poughkeepsie, money was raised for the Miles of Hope Breast Cancer Foundation. This wonderful non-profit organization supports and provides services, financial aid and resources for those affected by breast cancer in the nine counties of the Hudson Valley. Since its founding in 2004, Miles of Hope has raised over $4 million.

Refs from the Hudson Valley Soccer Referee Association (HVSRA) donated their services to the tournament.

The 20th Annual Pink Ribbon Soccer Festival, organized by the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL) and Estée Lauder, was played on Saturday, August 8 at the Peter Collins Soccer Park in Plainview. 25 LIJSL teams played 3v3 and four coed teams from Estée Lauder had fun in small-sided games on a glorious summer day on Long Island.

“It was a wonderfully pink day at the park,” LIJSL League Programs and Events Manager Stephanie Hernandez said. “No scores, no standings, just lots of fun raising money for a good cause. Our partnership with Estée Lauder has turned into years of friendship that continues to grow.”

Through player entry fees, breast cancer support merchandise sales and raffle tickets, $5,438 was raised for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, founded by Evelyn Lauder in 1992.

Refs from the Long Island Soccer Officials (LISO) donated their time in refereeing.

Juan Castillo, Estée Lauder’s Executive Director of Quality Assurance at the Melville office, explained, “The energy from work is here. What the volunteers do is the backbone of the tournament. We have mothers, sisters, wives who are all impacted. Because of you, they are not alone.”

Sue Ryan Shares Key Insights at the Grassroots to Pro Panel

By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association

August 7, 2026-Sue Ryan, Girls South Olympic Development Program (ODP) Director of the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA), was a panelist at the “From Grassroots to Pro Panel” that Gotham FC held last month with Eastern New York at CitiField in conjunction with their Queens Classic game against the Washington Spirit, which welcomed a large crowd of over 40,000.

The moderator of the panel was Soccer Forward Foundation Executive Director Lex Chalat and the other panelists were Yael Averbuch West (Gotham FC President of Soccer Operations), Pierre Soubrier (Gotham FC Director of Path to Pro) and Yanique Newman (Unique Ballers Founder).

Sue stated that “development and winning are not mutually exclusive. By developing players and making each one better, you win games.” She exhorted the audience that “if you picked 18 players, then play all of them during the game. What crushes your team culture is kids who are always on the bench and their parents become angry about that.”

Sue is a former member of United Soccer Coaches’ board of directors, chair of the Advocacy Council and academy staff instructor. She was honored with the association’s Women’s Soccer Award of Excellence in 2011, its Letter of Commendation in 2016 and its Charlotte Moran Long-Term Service Award For Youth Soccer earlier this year. Sue’s other honors include US Youth Soccer Youth Coach of the Year, Long Island Soccer Player Hall of Fame and Distinguished Educator, SUNY Cortland Alumni.

As a Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL) Select Team coach, Sue suggested Phallon Tullis-Joyce transition from field player to goalkeeper and two decades later, she is now keeper for Manchester United and the US Women’s National Team.

Sue Ryan speaking during the Grassroots to Pro Panel

Sue explained that the players who continue to improve rather than plateau are the ones who “experience great joy in playing. It’s important for the player to have joy with the ball. The kids who move on to the next level play street soccer with their family and friends. Continuing to improve is much more than structured practice with a coach.”

The Stony Brook resident concluded her remarks by saying, “You have to let your children steer the course. Kids ultimately need to make their own decisions about which team to play on, such as the community team with their friends rather than the higher-level team. Would they rather go to that party they were invited to rather than another practice?”

Against All Odds, the Long Island Futsal Academy Wins a Second Consecutive National Championship

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.

From left to right: Coach Jaytoe Teh, coach Paige Palazzolo, Taylor Bartosz, Rylan Waskiewicz, Charlotte Tran, Caroline Wintz, Taylor Collins, Kiera During, Mila Dillard, Kinley Logsdon, coach Brent Dillard and coach Craig Caravan.

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.”

Eastern New York Players Learn From Soccer Legends

July 15, 2026-Players from across the the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) were given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to participate in a skills clinic at Rockefeller Center with FIFA Women’s World Cup champion Kristine Lilly, former USWNT standout Kristie Mewis and former USMNT goalkeeper Brad Friedel.

Hosted by Panini, the clinic gave young players the chance to learn from three legends of the game while also receiving a Panini sticker album and trading stickers to help fuel their passion for soccer during this historic World Cup summer.

A special thank you to the FIFA World Cup 26™ New York-New Jersey Host Committee for the invitation and for providing this unforgettable experience for our players.

⚽ Creating memories. Inspiring the next generation. Growing the game.

Good Vibes at the 3v3 Tourneys Across Eastern New York

By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association

June 30, 2026-Today’s press release is brought to us by the number three as the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) hosted 3v3 tourneys the past two weekends. The 3v3 Summer Soccer Series featured three players on each team without goalkeepers in a bubble from AirPitch USA that is 15 meters long (16.4 yards) and 10 meters wide (10.9 yards). The 15-minute games were fast-paced with many goals and each registered team played five games.

Eastern New York hosted over 200 total teams in tournaments on three islands––Governor’s Island, Long Island and Staten Island––plus in the Hudson Valley and Albany. Creative team names such as Cleats & Conquer, Goal Patrol, Let’s Do This!, Thunder Down Under and Vamos FC added to the fun.

The tournament environment was maximized by a DJ, music and replicas of the World Cup trophy. Games started with a 10-second countdown just as in the World Cup.

Champions of the five 3v3 tourneys can play for the 3v3 Summer Soccer Series State Championship on Saturday, July 25 at 12th Rock Sports in Middletown.

Photos courtesy of the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association and Long Island Junior Soccer League