Glen Cove Junior Soccer to Honor Marco Malusa at its 50th Anniversary Celebration
New York Soccer News: The Glen Cove Junior Soccer League has a long and storied history
In 1969, two men met for the first time as they were watching a men’s soccer match in Glen Cove. It was then and there that the men, Marco Malusa and Bill Doyle, came up with the idea to start a soccer league for the kids in Glen Cove.
They formed the Glen Cove Junior Soccer League and the first local travel team ever, a Boys-Under-19 squad, to play in the fledgling Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL), which had been founded three years earlier.
Doyle went on to become the second LIJSL President (after Ron Campbell) and was also a well-respected coach and referee before his passing from cancer a quarter-century ago.
Malusa, who was inducted into the LIJSL Hall of Fame in 1983 and the Eastern New York Hall of Fame in 2010, was irreplaceable in making Glen Cove soccer what it is today. Besides being a co-founder of the club, he co-founded the intramural program along with his wife Marie in 1975.
“Marco has done it all,“ explained current Club President Martin Shannon. “He was the treasurer, the registrar, a coach, a referee and most importantly, a lifetime board member. He’s been present at board meetings and on the field for all 50 years of the club’s existence. To this day, he still participates and offers his guidance and wisdom.“
Beneficiaries of the club Malusa and Doyle created are thousands of boys and girls during the past five decades including notable players such as Roberto DeLuca, Mike Grella, Danny Mueller, Stephen Mueller
Malusa will be honored at Glen Cove’s 50th Anniversary Celebration this Saturday night, April 13 from 6 to 11 pm at the Metropolitan, 3 Pratt Boulevard in Glen Cove.
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 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.
