In New York, it is time for Valentine’s Day Soccer-Style
Over 100,000 kids––both boys and girls––from the East End of Long Island to the Canadian border are part of the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA).
They obviously play soccer, after all – it is not Cupid playing the beautiful game, but our non-profit organization is so large that many have a name that makes the upcoming Valentine’s Day special to them:
Six girls in Eastern New York have Valentine as a first name and 70 kids have Valentine as a last name.
24 boys in Eastern New York have Valentino as a first name and 78 kids use it as their surname.
There is just one player named Valentina and that’s a last name.
98 players definitely agree that “Love will find a way.” After all, four use Love as their first name while 94 have it as their last name.
If you said, “That’s Amore,” eight players in Eastern New York would turn around as that is their last name.
Five players are named after the Roman goddess of love. Just one has Venus as a first name while four have it as their last name.
There are 133 kids in Eastern New York named Rose.
And nearly 300 of our players have a dual celebration on February 14th as it’s also their birthday.
Perhaps one of these players will become as famous as another New Yorker with a Valentine’s Day-themed name, Rudolph Valentino. Born in Italy, he emigrated to the U.S. and starred in top silent films such as “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” and “The Sheik.” Valetino died in 1926 at the age of 31 because of severe pleuritis. Scores of despondent women attended his funeral at St. Malachy’s Catholic Church in Times Square as an estimated 100,000 in Manhattan that day paid their final respects to one of the top actors of the 1920s.
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.
