By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
April 15, 2020-The
Olympic Development Program (ODP) is considered the highest level of competition in each state association. The
Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) has a particularly strong ODP as our teams have won recent national championships plus Crystal Dunn and Allie Long are Eastern New York ODP graduates and Women’s World Cup champs.
Under the leadership of ODP Director Jim Volpe, our program is particularly resourceful in these very challenging times when thousands of New Yorkers are dying and players cannot train together.
Eastern New York recently purchased an app from
https://mypersonalfootballcoach.com for all 450 players, both boys and girls, in our ODP. Each player has full use of the app for the next 12 months with diverse exercises for ball mastery and the ability to track their activities. Each course is age-appropriate and designed to best suit their learning capabilities.
“The app is a good opportunity for the kids to break the monotony of being locked down at home as they can do the ball mastery exercises in their backyard or basement,” commented ODP Director Jim Volpe. “When we return to being able to train together again, the players who worked hard during this period will really be ready to go when play resumes.”
Eastern New York ODP also continues our Virtual Coaching Sessions on Zoom. This past Monday night, April 13 was a psychology lesson conducted by ODP coach Graham Radcliffe, asking our players how they are coping with the lockdown. Radcliffe has a BA in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Counseling, both from Hofstra University, and has worked for the past 29 years as a Guidance Counselor in the Island Trees School District.
This was the fourth video session, well over 300 players have attended each one, and they will continue until the kids are able to train as a team back on the field.
With approximately 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 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. 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. For more information, please log on to http://www.enysoccer.com/, which receives nearly 300,000 hits annually from the growing soccer community.