Ronan Wiseman
Director
Select Player Development Program
Ronan Wiseman is a graduate of Adelphi University where he earned a BBA in Business Finance and MS in Banking and Money Management. While at Adelphi University, Mr. Wiseman captained the soccer team through the school’s most successful years, including an appearance in the Elite Eight stage of the NCAA Tournament in 1987.
Mr. Wiseman played professionally in the North East Professional Super League, the Hellenic Professional Soccer League, and the United Soccer League (USL). He completed his professional playing career with the Long Island Rough Riders of the USL “A” League.
Mr. Wiseman has coached numerous college programs including Long Island University, United States Merchant Marine Academy, Adelphi University, and Hofstra University. He was also the Head Coach for the Long Island Rough Riders from 2004 to 2006. While coaching at Adelphi University, he worked as a United States Soccer Federation (USSF) Region 1 Staff Evaluator identifying and selecting elite youth soccer players for the USSF National Team Program.
Mr. Wiseman holds a USSF “A” License and is a member of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and the United States Soccer Coaches Organization. He is currently the Technical Director for the Long Island Junior Soccer League, one of the largest youth leagues in the world with over 75,000 members.
To help promote the game of soccer and improve the level of play on Long Island, Mr. Wiseman established a coaching company dedicated to youth soccer programs across Long Island. He has an excellent reputation for his coaching ability, business acumen, and ability to work seamlessly with the various coaching organizations on Long Island.
Coaching Staff
Herve’ Corda
Corda began his coaching career in 1984 as a youth coach in his native France with Football Club Moissagais. That included a three-year stint as the head coach of the Under 17 Entente Castel Moissac beginning in 1992. Since 2006, he has worked as a travel trainer for boys and girls U10-U13 teams and as Developmental Director for the Hewlett-Lawrence Soccer Club. He was an LIJSL ODP Coach for U11 and U12 boys in 2010 and holds an NSCAA Advanced National Diploma. After winning multiple championships as a youth and high school player in France, Corda played in Mexico, Tunisia, the West Indies, Israel, Italy, and Brazil as part of Football Corporatif from 1986-1992.
Joe DiDomenico
DiDomenico is the head coach of the New York Barrage women’s soccer team, which plays in the LIWSL. His training experience began in 1997 as the Director of Training for the Smithtown Kickers Soccer Club. In that role, he was responsible for special programs, tryouts, camps, coaching clinics, travel coach selection and referee training, and training programs for players and coaches. DiDomenico coached U11 and U16 girls as part of the LIJSL Select Program from 2000 to 2003. He then served as head coach of the U12 girls team in the ENYYSA ODP program from 2004 to 2006 before joining the LIJSL ODP program as a head coach from 2006-2010. DiDomenico, who holds an NSCAA Advanced National Diploma, is a graduate of Polytechnic University where he played four years of varsity soccer.
Richard Baroniunas
Owner of an NSCAA Advanced National License since 2004, as well as a USSF Grade 7 Referee credential since 1999, Baroniunas has been serving as a soccer coach and trainer since 1995. Known to many in the soccer community, he has worked within the Massapequa, HBC, East Islip, Rockville Centre, Bayport, Hicksville, Levittown, New Hyde Park, Sachem, and Lynbrook soccer clubs. He was also the JV soccer coach at Our Lady of Mercy Academy from 2003-2007 and also headed up the Massapequa Referee Intramural program from 2002-2009. In addition, Baroniunas has been active at the league level, serving as the head of the LIJSL Referee Evaluation Committee since 2003, and the head of the Sportsmanship Committee since 2001. He has also been a coach in the LIJSL ODP program since 2004. A product of the New Hyde Park Travel program in the early 1970’s, he went on to play four years at NHP HS and one season at Nassau Community College before earning bachelor’s degrees from New York Tech and College of Old Westbury.
Jerome Vivona
Coach Vivona serves as an Associate Staff Instructor within the prestigious NSCAA Coaching Academy and the Long Island Junior Soccer League Coaching Academy. He is currently the New York Red Bulls training programs representative for all of Long Island. A former Assistant Women's Soccer Coach at NYIT, he serves on numerous training staff's including the NY Red Bulls Academy RDS Program. He also serves as the founder and Director of Coaching for his own Elite Player Development Program on LI. Vivona holds the NSCAA Premier Diploma, Advanced National Diploma, and the National Diploma, as well as the NSCAA Director of Coaching Diploma. He also holds his NSCAA Regional (Level 2) GK Diploma. He is currently enrolled in the League Managers Association School of Football Management Excellence Program. Vivona played soccer on scholarship at Quinnipiac University. He was team captain and a four-year varsity starter at North Shore High School and played under Coaches Dr. Norman Ross and the legendary Bob Blitz. In addition, he had the privilege of training with NSCAA Hall of Fame and US National Team Coaches, Walt and Eugene Chyzowych.
Eric Schmidt
Schmidt entered the coaching ranks after a stellar playing career that included two appearances in the State Cup Finals, and a Region I Championship as a member of the NYS ODP Team. He was also a member of the US National Team Top 30 Pool and led Hofstra University to three consecutive CAA Championships. He continues to show his passion for the sport through several coaching roles including Quad Soccer Director of Events, team trainer for teams in Massapequa, Huntington, Sachem, and Wantagh, LIJSL ODP Select head coach, and head coach of the Long Island Football Club. Schmidt also holds an NSCAA Advanced National License and is a member of the Nassau Zone NYS AAHPERD.
Karim Diallo
Diallo has shown that he knows how to prepare for soccer competition at the highest levels. As a coach he has helped lead the Smithtown West boys varsity team to the NYS Quarterfinals in 2008, turned the Dowling College Women into perennial conference contenders, and was part of the staff that led the Dowling men to four straight Final Eight appearances in the Division II National Tournament, including a national championship in 2006. He had similar success as a player, winning a national championship with the Long Island Rough Riders in 2002, and leading Dowling to the Final Four in 2001 while earning all-conference and all-region honors. Prior to that, he was a member of the Guinea Youth National Teams from 1995 to 1997 (U19 and U21).
Tony Picciano
Picciano has been a part of the LIJSL Select/ODP coaching staff since 1997 and has coached both boys and girls in nearly every age group. He led the U16 boys and girls teams to undefeated trips through Europe in 2005 and 2006, and has also led the LIJSL Developmental Program. Picciano, who owns an NSCAA Advanced National Diploma, has also coached within the Rockville Centre and South Merrick Soccer clubs, and coached CYO soccer in Malverne. Picciano grew up in Brooklyn, NY, playing at Lafayette HS and Long Island University. He also played professionally for the New York Cosmos and internationally for the KLM – Royal Dutch Airlines Traveling Team.
Paul Yarde
Yarde has a wide range of coaching experience. A coach and trainer with the Met Oval Brooklyn Knights and the Massapequa Soccer Club, he has also been a member of the Dowling College men’s and women’s coaching staffs. Yarde personally trains members of the US Youth National Team and in 2009 coached the #1 ranked team in the country in the U12 age group. As a youth player he was a three-time MVP of the Notre Dame Football Club, and still holds scoring records for the Barbados Defense Force. He played his college ball at Dowling where he made three NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the Final Four in 2001.
Jerry Boerleider
Boerleider has been a head coach in the ODP program since 2002, coaching both girls and boys in every age group from U11 through U19. He is also the head coach of the Glen Cove Soccer Club Over 30 Team. Boerleider’s playing career included four years at Southern Connecticut State University where he was a member of the Owls’ NCAA Division II National Championship teams in 1987 and 1990. He owns a USSF A Coaching License.
Adam Goldstein
Goldstein has an extensive coaching resume that includes stops with the Brooklyn Patriots Soccer Club as a trainer, coach, and Director of Coaching for the girls program, with the Manhattan Kickers Soccer Club and the Plainview-Old Bethpage Soccer Club as a coach and trainer, and with the Garden City Centennial Soccer Club as a trainer with the CAPT Advanced Player Program. He also spent two years as the varsity head coach for girls and boys soccer at Stuyvesant HS in New York, and recently finished a two-year run as an assistant men’s coach at Brooklyn College. He holds National and Advanced National certifications from the NSCAA.
Rick Fatscher
A native of Massapequa, Fatscher had a stellar playing career as a youth player, playing goal for the LIJSL Select team and the ENYSYA State Select team from 1978-1982. He also won a gold medal as a member of the LI team at the 1981 Empire State Games before spending five years at Syracuse University where he earned Most Outstanding Player honors on the Orange’s 1985 Big East Tournament Champion team. As a coach he has experience working as the goalkeeper coach at Syracuse, spent two years as the LIJSL Select Goalkeeper Trainer from 1994-96, and worked with numerous clubs across LI for the last 18 years. He holds a NSCAA B License.
Paul Bigilin
Bigilin owns his NSCAA National Advanced Coaching Diploma and has been coaching youth soccer since 1984, winning multiple Waldbaum’s Cup titles, as well as regional and national championships. He is the former trainer for the St. Dominic’s HS girls and boys JV and varsity programs, and sat as an invited guest on the 2010 LIJSL Special Advisory Committee due to his wealth of knowledge with regard to the game of soccer.
Eddie Hackett
As a young player growing up in England, Hackett attended the Manchester United Football Club School of Excellence from the time he was 11 years old, until he was 15. That experience carried him to a semi-professional soccer career in England where he played in Unibond Division I and the North West Counties Premier division. He was a member of the Suffolk Community College National Championship team in 2010. He currently holds his USSF National A License, is the Director of Coaching for the Newfield Soccer Club and serves as a coach/trainer with the LIJSL Select Program and the Red Bulls RDS staff.
Russell Murphy
A long time coach in the West Islip and Sachem soccer clubs, Murphy has been the head coach of the girls developmental team in the LIJSL ODP/Select program since 2006. A former player in the LIJSL and at Clarkson College in upstate New York, he now holds his NSCAA Advanced National Diploma.
Bartlett Polster Jr.
Currently the Director of Coaching for the Stony Brook Soccer Club, Polster also continues to serve as a head coach for boys and girls teams within the club. He has been a member of the LIJSL Select staff since 2006, and has a long list of accomplishments as a trainer for clubs all over Long Island. A Deer Park native, he played his college soccer at Virginia Commonwealth University, and currently holds his NSCAA Premier Diploma, as well as a US Youth Soccer National Youth License and his NSCAA National Diploma. He was also the 2006 LIJSL Sportsmanship Coach of the Year.
Ken Zawistowski
Zawistowski is currently the Director of the Boys Intramural program for the Manhasset Soccer Club while also serving as a trainer for teams in the Manhasset, Port Washington, and Dix Hills soccer clubs. He has been a member of the LIJSL Select coaching staff since 2006. A former All-SUNYAC selection as a member of the men’s soccer team at SUNY Geneseo, he is currently pursuing his law degree at Touro.
Aris Antonopoulos
Antonopoulos is a graduate of Adelphi University and holds not only his NSCAA Advanced National Diploma, but also has his Level 8 Referee License from the United States Soccer Referee Association. In addition to running his own youth and adult soccer program in Lynbrook, he has served as a team trainer in Baldwin, Plainedge, and Deer Park. He has also coached in the Albertson program and has been a coach and trainer in the LIJSL ODP/Select program since 2007.
Herb Bettancourt
A native of Bogota, Columbia, Bettancourt holds an NSCAA Advanced National License and a Referee Class 7 license. He has worked as a trainer and coach in the LIJSL for 22 years and has been part of the LIJSL Select/ODP program for 16 years, coaching girls and boys in many different age groups. His teams have competed at the national level and internationally, and he continues to play the game today. Bettancourt had a stellar playing career, earning high school All-America honors in New Jersey, and college All-America accolades at SUNY Oneonta.
Michael Butler
A former 1st round draft pick in the 1999 MLS draft, Butler played professionally with the Columbus Crew and the NY/NJ Metro Stars before spending five seasons with various A-League teams from 2000-2004, including the Long Island Rough Riders. His coaching experience includes stints as an assistant coach at American International College, SUNY Purchase, George Washington University, and the Lady Roughriders in the W-League pro women’s soccer league. He is currently in his second season as head men’s coach at Sarah Lawrence College, where he earned conference coach of the year honors in his first year with the program. Butler holds an NSCAA National Youth Diploma and a Director of Coaching diploma, and recently completed his USSF A license.
Stuart Love
Coach Love has already earned his National and Advanced National diplomas from the NSCAA, and is currently the boys varsity soccer coach at Bay Shore High School in Suffolk County, where he has been part of the staff since 2004. He has also spent ten years coaching and training various travel team programs across Long Island.
Rich Kloska
Kloska has coached boys’ soccer at the high school level at Lindenhurst since 2003, was chosen as a coach for the Exceptional HS Seniors games in 2010, and led the Long Island Boys Scholastic team to a bronze medal finish at the 2010 Empire State Games. He is also in his second year with the LIJSL Select/ODP program and coaches a Division I boys travel team in the Lindenhurst Soccer Club. Kloska has B and Y Licenses from the USSF and is an NSCAA Soccer Ambassador.
Paul Roderick
A scholarship soccer player at CW Post and Hofstra, Roderick went on to play professionally for the Long Island Roughriders and the New York Freedoms in the A-League and the USL. He is currently head coach of the Rough Riders and has been the girls varsity head coach at Holy Trinity HS since 1999. He holds numerous coaching licenses and certifications.
Scott Leamey
A former goalkeeper and captain for the first LIJSL Select team to travel overseas, Scott has been coaching the Select PDP (formerly ODP) keepers since 2008 and is also an instructor/coach within the Long Island Rough Riders Programs as well as a clinician for Tony DiCicco's SoccerPlus Goalkeeping School. He holds his NSCAA Advanced National License and Advanced National Goalkeeper License. Leamey also owns a National Goalkeeper License from the USSF and is a staff member on the NSCAA Goalkeeper Academy.
Oscar Villegas
A long time soccer trainer and coach across Long Island, Villegas has also had a successful sports marketing career, focusing his efforts on the promotion of the game of soccer. This includes roles as a player, coach, and marketing executive within the Red Bulls organization. He currently holds an Advanced National Diploma from the NSCA and is still actively playing the game and involved in the soccer freestyling movement.
Chris Schmidt
Schmidt is a member of the New York Red Bulls Training Staff and owns several advanced coaching diplomas from the NSCAA. In addition to coaching in the LIJSL ODP Program since 2006, he has extensive experience as a team trainer for clubs throughout Long Island.
Matt McElwee
A part of the LIJSL ODP/Select program since 1998, McElwee has focused his coaching experience on the boys side of the program. However, he has also served as both a boys and girls team coach and trainers with the Massapequa SC, Syosset SC, Garden City SC, East Meadow, and Bellmore. McElwee played his college soccer at St. Andrews College in Laurinburg, NC.
Ricardo Blanchard
Blanchard has an extensive playing background that includes playing professionally with the Long Island Rough Riders, West Chester Flames, Connecticut Wolves, and New Orleans Gamblers. He also played for the St. Lucia National Team and Torcha in Portugal. His coaching resume includes roles with Massapequa Soccer Club on the youth level and with the Rough Riders in the Super Y League. He also is a successful sports therapist who has worked with the Rough Riders in the A League and with the World Cup qualifying St. Lucia National Team.
Jonathan Adams
A graduate of Mars Hill College where he earned a BS in Sports Management with a double minor in Business Administration and World History, Adams went on to the University of Texas (UTPB) where he earned a MS in Kinesiology with a concentration on Sport Psychology/Sociology. He was a versatile player in his own right, playing center back, center midfield, and goalkeeper. Adams is currently an assistant with the men’s soccer team at Hofstra University and with the Massapequa SC. His coaching career has included stops at Mars Hill and various club teams in four different states over the last 10 years. That included a two-year stint as Director of Coaching for the Dallas Texans. He holds a NSCAA Premier Diploma, NSCAA Advanced National Goalkeeping Diploma, and a USSF “B” License.
Scott Scelsa
Scelsa has been a coach in the LIJSL ODP Program since 2007. His vast coaching experience includes training numerous youth teams across Long Island. He has also been an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Knights BU15 Team who made it to the Super Y league National Finals. He currently holds his NSCAA National and Advanced National Diplomas. He is a product of the Massapequa Soccer Club and Massapequa HS, as well as being a LIJSL Select player in the 1980's.
Rich Kloska
Kloska has coached boys’ varsity soccer at Lindenhurst High School since 2003. He has been selected as a coach for the Exceptional HS Seniors games in 2010-2011, and led the Long Island Boys Scholastic team to a bronze medal finish at the 2010 Empire State Games. He is in his third year with the LIJSL Select Player Development Program. Kloska has visited and observed youth development training programs at Bayer Leverkusen, FC Cologne and Ajax. He currently holds USSF B and USSF Y licenses .In 2004 he received the Bob McNulty Award from the US Soccer Federation national coaching schools. He is a NSCAA Soccer Ambassador and a member of the SCSCA.