Come Play With Me! TOPSoccer to Kick Off its Spring Season in the Long Island Junior Soccer League
Children With Special Needs playing soccer in an organized league actually started in the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) back in 1978 when the Huntington Boys Club (HBC) and Massapequa Soccer Club separately started programs. These two clubs are longtime members of the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL) and the LIJSL has the largest TOPSoccer Special Children’s Program in Eastern New York to this day.
Using the slogan of “Come Play With Me,” the LIJSL TOPSoccer Program has grown to 26 clubs in Queens, Nassau and Suffolk and is kicking off its Spring Season on Saturday, April 9:
The inaugural Commack TOPSoccer Festival will be played at the Burr Road Soccer Complex on Saturday, April 30 from 9 am to noon.
“I am certain that Commack’s Andrew and Marlene Kasman will do a wonderful job in organizing this festival,” commented LIJSL TOPSoccer Chairperson Ann Marie Toth.
The highlight of the TOPSoccer Spring Season every year is the festival and barbeque on the first Saturday in June at the Peter Collins Soccer Park in Plainview. This year’s version will be played on Saturday, June 4, kicking off at 9 am and concluding around noon. The rain date is Sunday, June 5.
TOPSoccer stands for The Outreach Program for Soccer, an innovative program run by the LIJSL that provides a safe and fun environment for children with challenges, from severe auditory or visual impairment, and orthopedic handicaps, to behavior deviations plus intellectual and cognitive disabilities. The goal is to provide soccer skill development and free play for kids who are unable to compete in a mainstream soccer program.
For more info or to register your child, please contact Toth at 516-694-3567.
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 Children With Special Needs. 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.
