Philipstown Coach Andrea Maasik Honored as the Personality of the Month in Eastern New York
The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) is very pleased to announce that coach Andrea Maasik is being honored as our Personality of the Month for March.
“Andrea represents everything the Philipstown Soccer Club stands for! She is a dynamo and deserves the recognition for all she does for her team, our club and soccer in our community,” commented Philipston Soccer Club President Craig Roffman. “In addition to a full time career, Andrea has been an active community volunteer, with the Cub Scouts, Philipstown Garden Club, as a class parent. For many years, she also has worked with me on the Haldane School Foundation, tirelessly raising money to benefit the enhancement of educational opportunities for the students of our district.“
Andrea Maasik did not play youth soccer in an era when there were far fewer teams, particularly girls teams.
“Youth soccer didn’t start up in my town until after I was in middle school so my first time playing organized soccer was in 7th grade for the modified team,” Andrea explained. “I didn’t discover competitive soccer until the summer after my sophomore year of high school when I spent a week at a soccer camp in Pennsylvania with a friend who invited me to join her. The camp had visiting soccer pros from the UK and it opened my eyes to the sport and I quickly improved my game.”
Andrea Maasik went on to play at Wallkill High School, captaining the team and setting the girls assist record her senior year. Yet she mainly improved playing pick-up games, often against boys.
“We would play wherever we could find a game, on our home fields in Wallkill or in the City of Newburgh.”
Andrea Maasik walked on at Ithaca College, when the Bombers won two Division 3 national championships in 1990 and 1991. Andrea stated, “My college coach, Pat Farmer, really understood the game and had a profound influence on me as a player. Coach Farmer moved me to a defensive position on day one and the skills I learned as a defender made me a better all-round player. Ultimately, this also influenced my coaching philosophy because I look for all my players to develop their defensive skills and my defenders must be fast, relentless and play with a lot of heart.“
With the Philipstown Soccer Club, Andrea co-coached the Philipstown Chargers for one year with her husband John. Their older son, Alek, plays on the team.
Then Andrea Maasik started coaching the Philipstown Arsenal with her younger son Evan on that team. She commented, “Arsenal has also benefited from the leadership of coaches Josh DiNardo and Todd Drake, who have brought their sense of humor and soccer knowledge to the team’s development.“
The Philipstown travel teams were playing in the Westchester Youth Soccer League but Andrea and John, along with Club President Roffman, spearheaded the move to the East Hudson Youth Soccer League (EHYSL).
“John and I grew up playing soccer in the Hudson Valley and we knew that not only would many EHYSL teams be located closer to Philipstown, but also that the quality of soccer in the EHYSL is extremely high,” Maasik said. “After sitting down with the EHYSL leadership, our club was impressed with their dedication to the development of all the players in the league and to elevating the sport in our region. It became clear that we had found a new home for our club.“
It’s obvious that the Philipstown Arsenal has found a home as the team has been quickly making their way up divisions. Last fall, their first season in EHYSL Division 1, the team finished 4-3-1 and also won the 2015 Beekman Cup, their first tournament championship.
When Andrea and her family are not coaching or playing, they can be found rooting on Bayern Munich, the national teams of the United States and sometimes even Estonia. And if all this was not enough, her “real job” is Director of Marketing for Naya Energy in Phoenix, a long indirect kick from her home in Garrison.
Congratulations to Andrea Maasik, Eastern New York’s Personality of the Month for March.
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.
