Four Longtime Volunteers Inducted Into Long Island Junior Soccer League Hall of Fame
Soccer News: The Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL), the largest league in the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA), held its 34th Annual Convention at the Huntington Hilton on the first weekend of March. One of the highlights was the induction of the LIJSL Hall of Fame Class of 2016 as four new inductees joined the 98 LIJSL Hall of Famers, bringing the number of Hall of Famers above 100 for the league that is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
South Setauket’s Holly Maresco has volunteered for the Terryville Soccer Club for over two decades. She began coaching intramurals and currently coaches a Premier team, Girls-Under-19 Terryville Outbreak. She served as a secretary for Terryville’s Intramural Board and then as secretary for the Travel Team Board. But arguably her most important contributions have come at the league level. With the LIJSL, Holly has volunteered for the past five years as chairperson of the Long Island Cup, one of the largest cup competitions in the world, and as chairperson for the past four years of the LIJSL Convention, one of the largest soccer conventions in the world. So induction weekend was very busy for her as she also had a convention to run!
Shoreham resident Pat Secko kicked off her affiliation with the LIJSL when her oldest son, Michael, played on the Boys-Under-10 Sound Beach Wildcats in 1987. She became a Sound Beach assistant coach, then chairperson of the LIJSL Games Committee after serving on the committee. She has also volunteered for the Terryville Soccer Club. Pat and her husband Mike served on the committees of the Exceptional Senior Games, College-Bound Player Program, Long Island Cup, LIJSL Convention and State Cup. After another Pat, Grecco, the former chairperson of the College-Bound Player Program, moved to North Carolina, Pat Secko stepped up and became chairperson and continues to volunteer even though her three sons graduated from youth soccer a long time ago and she lost Mike to cancer in 2012.
Jack Byrnes of East Northport has volunteered for the Commack Soccer League for nearly three decades. During this time, he has been a coach, division coordinator, field coordinator, tournament director, scheduler, school board liaison, vice president, president and past president. He has been a major part of Commack’s growth from 80 players in the late 1980s to over 2,000 registered kids this year. Even today, he still lines fields, anchors goals and files permits, doing the behind-the-scenes work that makes Commack’s soccer program run so smoothly.
Giulio Petruccelli of Flushing grew up playing soccer and wore the colors of Cardozo High School, Queens College and the New York Hota Bavarians. He knew that soccer had kept him out of trouble so he wanted to do the same for kids in Queens. He helped start the Auburndale Soccer Club’s intramural program, provided fields and a club house for Auburndale, became the club’s first travel team coach and co-founded the Auburndale TOPSoccer Program and the Italian-American Soccer League’s SS Cosma and Damiano Soccer Club, named after his hometown in Italy. Giulio will have to find a space for the LIJSL Hall of Fame plaque to go along with his Eastern New York Hall of Fame trophy, Auburndale Coach of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Awards, LIJSL Coach of the Year Award, Queens Man of the Year and New York Channel 1’s Volunteer of the Year.
Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) came once again to hand out each LIJSL club’s Volunteer of the Year Award. Senator Schumer said, “I always like to come to the LIJSL, especially since this is your 50th anniversary. My daughter played in your league and I saw what a great job you do. When our kids play, they learn teamwork, sportsmanship and endurance and they learn a lot. You’re doing a great job helping our kids grow.”
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) 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.
