From left to right: SIYSL First Vice President Rob Libertelli, Liz Morano and SIYSL President Bill Smith. Above them is SIYSL Treasurer Fred Cipriani.
By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
October 8, 2019-The
Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) is very pleased to announce that
Staten Island Youth Soccer League (SIYSL) volunteer Liz Morano has been selected as our Personality of the Month for October.
”Liz has been an angel from above as she is the first to raise her hand when the league needs a volunteer,” SIYSL President Bill Smith said. ”She has written letters and done hundreds of grant forms so the league has money for us to do more for children. With her help, we have received over $275,000 from local politicians.”
Like many American adults, Liz became involved in soccer through her kids. In 2002, her daughter Claudia was in Kindergarten playing for Our Lady Help of Christians (OLHC) Soccer and her team needed an assistant coach. Although Liz never played the game, she volunteered to help out. All her kids played soccer. Nick and Alex played for OLHC while Frank was on SIYSL club Holy Child.
From 2007 to 2018, the Tottenville resident volunteered as the Director of OLHC Soccer. In 2012, Staten Island was severely impacted by Hurricane Sandy. Two Tottenville residents lost their lives and many homes were damaged beyond repair.
”Working with the league, OLHC organized an island-wide soccer tournament, Playing for Angels. We raised $12,000 which we donated to local storm recovery efforts,” Liz explained.
She continued, ”I started to do grant writing for the league in 2014. Gradually, this became quite time consuming so, last spring I passed on the Directorship of OLHC to Anthony Strofolino and have since been focusing on grants. I was so excited last year when we won a Target grant which we used to provide soccer balls and backpacks for New World Prep, a Title 1 Charter school on Staten Island.”
Liz also helps the SIYSL with community-based initiatives such as the Gold Ribbon Games (for pediatric cancer) and coordinating the SIYSL and Staten Island Soccer Club’s participation in the 2019 Tunnel to Towers 5K Run. For all this volunteering, she received the OLHC Soccer Volunteer Award last January and the ENYYSA Personality of the Month for October.
We’re extremely happy that she is back on her feet. This past January 22, she was struck by a driver while crossing the street.
She picks it up from there, ”Thank goodness my husband Carmine was with me! I was thrown in the air, had a shattered tibia and underwent three surgeries. I now have a titanium rod and screws in my leg. Carmine took such good care of me during these difficult months. I was confined to a wheelchair for six weeks, then progressed to a walker, then a cane and after months of intense physical therapy, I am walking on my own! As I’m an avid runner, I've participated in three local races, not yet running, but finishing!”
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.