By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
January 22, 2019-While the number of indoor soccer tournaments has significantly decreased in New York during the past generation as teams play in indoor leagues instead, the Adam Novellano Memorial Indoor Tournament has not only survived but it has thrived. Organized by the good people of the West Islip Soccer Club for the past three decades, this Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL) tourney will have over 300 teams playing once again this winter, made up of approximately 60% boys teams and 40% girls teams from Under-7 to Under-19.
The games will be played on January 26 and 27 plus February 2, 9 and 10 and officiated by the refs of the Long Island Soccer Referee Association (LISRA). Gyms throughout West Islip will be used including West Islip High School, Beach Street Middle School, Udall Middle School, Masera Learning Center and St. John the Baptist High School. There will be awards for MVP, best striker, defender and goalkeeper in each division with the Lionheart award, emblematic of the tourney namesake, going to one player on each team.
“Adam Novellano was a great all-around soccer player who lost his battle with cancer at a young age,” commented West Islip Soccer Club President Mike Lombardi. “He was the type of player who might not have won the best striker, defender or goalie award but did everything the coach asked him to do. Every team has an Adam.”
The tourney proceeds go to scholarships for West Islip players and back to the players of the club in other diverse ways. For more info, please contact boys tournament coordinator Josh Blumberg at 516-770-2386 or boys@westislipsoccer.com or girls tourney coordinator Rob Grimaldi at 631-457-9705 or girls@westislipsoccer.com.
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 nine 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 United States Youth Soccer Association. For more information, please log on to http://www.enysoccer.com/, which receives nearly 300,000 hits annually from the growing soccer community.