By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
May 27, 2015-The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) is looking forward to fantastic finishes and game heroes taking center stage as the most important four weekends in New York youth soccer are about to unfold.
The State Open Cup finals will be played this weekend, May 30 and 31, at Stringham Park in LaGrange. The champion teams advance to Regionals and the Regional champs go all the way to Nationals. The Smithtown Arsenal entered the 2013 State Open Cup and wound up as Boys-Under-16 national champions while their friendly rivals, Manhattan Paris Saint-Germain, have done the same and were Boys-Under-17 national champs last year.
From the Hudson Valley for this upcoming last weekend in May, the scene shifts to Long Island for the first two weekends in June. The Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL) will host its annual TOPSoccer Games and Barbeque on Saturday morning, June 6 at the Peter Collins Soccer Park in Plainview. All players participating will receive a trophy. TOPSoccer stands for The Outreach Program for Soccer, a special program run by Eastern New York that provides a safe and fun environment for children with challenges, from severe auditory or visual impairment, and orthopedic handicaps, to behavior deviations and children with Down Syndrome. It provides soccer skill development and free play for kids who are unable to compete in a mainstream soccer program.
Stay in Plainview as the Arch Capital Group Cup finals will be played on Saturday, June 13 at the Collins Soccer Park. Unlike the State Open Cup, you need not be the best team in the state to win this trophy. Eastern New York would like to thank our longtime sponsor, Arch Capital Group, which writes insurance and reinsurance on a worldwide basis through operations in the United States, Bermuda, Canada and Europe, with a focus on specialty lines.
Then the action moves to Staten Island for the third weekend in June. On Saturday, June 20, the ENY Premier League finals will be played at Owl Hollow Fields. The fun continues at the same venue on Sunday, June 21 as the ENY Champions Cup will be played. The teams competing in the Champions Cup are the top Division 1 representatives of Eastern New York’s member leagues.
“It’s a great deal of work on the part of our volunteers but we are very happy to host these five competitions for our travel teams as well as our TOPSoccer players,” commented Richard Christiano, President of the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association. “With these very diverse competitions, all these players have an opportunity to bring home a trophy this spring.”
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 11 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 Special Children. 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.