May 30, 2023-The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) is very pleased to return to Stringham Park on June 3 and 4 for the State Cup finals. Stringham Park is the home of the LaGrange Soccer Club of the East Hudson Youth Soccer League (EHYSL) and the park has hosted the State Cup finals for more than a decade as their wonderful grass fields are centrally-located in Eastern New York and they are just a short corner kick from the Taconic Parkway.
Hosting the State Cup finals gives a nice little kick to the Dutchess County economy when considering the people from outside the local area coming and buying gas, eating at restaurants plus staying at nearby hotels.
“LaGrange Soccer is happy to welcome back Eastern New York for this year’s State Cup championship games and we look forward to all the competitive matches once again,” stated LaGrange Soccer Club President Kara Gaddoniex.
Stringham Park’s origins begin way back in 1932, when soccer was not nearly as popular as it is today. That year, Karl Ehmer opened his first butcher shop on 46th Street and Second Avenue in Manhattan. In the mid-1940’s, Ehmer opened a manufacturing facility in Ridgewood, Queens, from where he served six retail locations.
Although Ehmer still has its own stores, his sausages, hams, other meats and specialty foods are also sold today in supermarkets, specialty shops and ethnic stores across the United States.
Ehmer was the owner of a large beef cattle farm near a house he owned in the Town of LaGrange. In 1994, a decade after the famous “Where’s the Beef?” commercials, he sold the property to a developer and the deal was approved by the town after a portion of the land was donated to them for recreational use.
So Stringham Park, ironically with the word “ham” in it, was created just south of Stringham Road and east of Ehmer Drive. The name Stringham comes from a family with long-standing ties to the community. West of Stringham Park, luxury homes were built.
Up until that point, the LaGrange Soccer Club shared two fields on Noxon Road with Little League so it was very nice for soccer to have a home of its own. In 1998, Stringham Park opened with one field but as soccer grew, so did the use of the park.
“Stringham Park is the best use of cooperation I know of between a sports league and town, at no additional cost to the town,” stated Jeff Feldman, who served on the LaGrange Soccer Club Board of Directors for over two decades. His more than 10 years as club president included when the club started using Stringham Park.
The LaGrange Soccer Club received two grants totaling $42,000 from the U.S. Soccer Foundation. The first grant, for $25,000 in 1997, was used to put up a building housing the concession stand, picnic area, bathrooms and lawn mowing equipment. The second grant, for $17,000 in 1999, put in the first part of irrigation system––pump, initial piping and wiring for the first phase. The money generated from the concession stand funded the expansion of the irrigation system to the entire complex as new fields were developed. Today, 14 soccer fields are spread throughout the 71 acres of the park.
Over 900 players and coaches are currently registered with the LaGrange Soccer Club. The club also has an active TOPSoccer Program of 25 kids with special needs.
Stringham Park also now includes two basketball courts, lacrosse fields, a baseball field, a walking trail and playground.