By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
February 21, 2023-As the youth players of the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) make the transition from indoor to outdoor soccer, they are training for the State Cup kicking off next month.
It’s a single-elimination tournament but you have to be in it to win it. The State Open Cup is for the top teams and it’s the pathway to Nationals. The Challenge Cup is for all teams at Under-10 and Under-11 as there is not a State Open Cup in those age groups. For Under-12 to Under-16, it’s for mid- to lower-tier teams.
For both competitions, the first round for the boys is on the weekend of March 18 and 19 while it’s for the girls on the weekend of April 1 and 2.
The competition takes its traditional Easter/Passover break and then resumes with the second round for both genders on April 15 and 16. An extra round, if needed for the age groups with the most teams, will be played on April 29 and 30.
The quarterfinals will be played across Eastern New York on May 6 and 7 and the semifinals on Saturday, May 20. All rounds up to and including the semis are played on teams’ home fields.
The exception to this schedule is for the State Open Cup in the Under-19 division as college players compete in that age group so that starts in May when the players are returning from school.
The State Cup finals will once again be played at a neutral site, Stringham Park in LaGrange, on June 3 and 4 as that weekend will be a celebration of New York soccer. The LaGrange Soccer Club has hosted the State Cup finals for more than a decade as their wonderful grass fields are centrally-located in Eastern New York and are a short corner kick from the Taconic Parkway. Stringham Park started hosting soccer games in 1998 on property that was once a large beef cattle farm owned by Karl Ehmer.
For more information about the State Cup, please contact the Eastern New York office at 516-766-0849.
With approximately 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 United States Youth Soccer. For more information, please log on to http://www.enysoccer.com/