Six Red Bulls Grew Up Playing Soccer In Eastern New York
New York Youth Soccer News: Fun facts — turning the clock back and discovering the roots of the professional soccer players — Six Red Bull pros come from all over the New York City metropolitan area
The Eastern New York Young Olympians/Red Bulls Program was created this year through a partnership between the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) and the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer.
The program provides Eastern New York’s 11 affiliated youth leagues the opportunity to send its best players to train in the Eastern New York/Red Bulls program, providing a connection between Eastern New York and it’s more than 100,000 local players, and the New York Red Bull Youth Programs.
Hopefully, one day kids who grew up as Young Olympians will play for the Red Bulls.
But although the Young Olympians program has just kicked off and is for players preparing to play in Eastern New York’s Olympic Development Program (ODP), six current Red Bulls––including head coach Chris Armas and five players from all over Eastern New York––grew up playing youth soccer in ENYYSA.
Did you know that Chris Armas represented the USMNT over 60 times, winning two Gold Cups?
The detail on one of our ENYYSA’s own: Armas is a Brooklyn native who was drafted by the LA Galaxy in the inaugural MLS draft in 1996, after playing two professional seasons with the Long Island Rough Riders of the USISL. Armas was named to the MLS Best XI for four straight seasons from 1998 through 2001 before seeing his streak broken by an ACL injury that caused him to miss much of the 2002 campaign. He bounced back in 2003, being named MLS Comeback Player of the Year and MLS Best XI for the fifth time. Armas is one of just four players to earn Best XI distinction five times, second only to Landon Donovan’s seven Best XI selections.
“It’s great to see so many local players in MLS, particularly on the Red Bulls,” commented ENYYSA President Richard Christiano. “We hope to see even more of our players who grew up in Eastern New York on MLS teams in the future.”
Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association: 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) reaches 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.
