NEW YORK SOCCER CELEBRATES THE WORLD’S MOST LOVED SPORT

Fun For All With The World’s Most Beautiful Game

Soccer brings all of us together, and in New York, youth players and former professionals from all different backgrounds joined in the celebration.

New York Soccer News: The Festival coincided with the 80th anniversary of Flushing Meadows Park

Hundreds from the New York City metro area came to windy Flushing Meadows Park for the Second Annual Eastern New York Soccer Festival, presented by the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA), on Saturday, April 27.

The Festival coincided with the 80th anniversary of the park as it was built for the 1939 World’s Fair. Although Flushing Meadows Park is better-known for New York Mets baseball and US Open tennis, soccer has gained much more than a foothold in the park as games are played from dawn to dusk.

Players from the men’s teams at St. John’s University and Queens College, whose campuses are both a short corner kick away, taught the kids skills at six stations while the NYPD provided security.

6-year-old Carlos, who plays for Juca’s Soccer Club of the Metrokids Interregional Soccer League, said, “I had fun and I won the game while shooting the ball through the James Rodriguez hole.” 8-year-old Lindsay stated, “My favorite part was kicking the ball over there” while Victoria, 3 years old, was more interested in dancing to the music of 96.3 FM La X, El Ritmo di New York (The Rhythm of New York), than in playing soccer.

Everybody was admitted free of charge and the kids won prizes that were donated by Eastern New York sponsors at the skills events. As the festival concluded, numerous pick-up games broke out among the kids plus some of their parents and a good time was had by all.

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.