The soccer games had been over for some time.
The players had started heading home, the soccer balls had been put away, and the goals had been dismantled. But as
Richard Bletsch, a long time youth soccer coach and recently-retired TOPSoccer director, stood on the blacktop behind Denton Avenue School in New Hyde Park on Saturday afternoon, he saw a familiar sight. There were still a dozen friends and volunteers talking and sharing stories, giving out t-shirts, tournament patches, hot dogs, and medals long after the New Hyde Park Soccer Club’s annual Fall TOPSoccer Tournament had been completed. To see our photo gallery from the tournament click here.
“This is what makes our program unique,” said Bletsch, who has been with the NHP TOPSoccer program since its inception. “This has really become a community event. We have a great group of adult coaches, young coaches who come from our travel and intramural programs and the local HS programs; we get the schools involved, the local fire house is involved, and none of these volunteers have kids in the TOPSoccer program. They just come down because they want to help and be part of it.”
The New Hyde Park Wildcats Soccer Club began the TOPSoccer program in the fall of 1991. After seeing the program grow quickly, it was decided they would host an annual fall tournament and invite teams from all of Long Island. But what Bletsch thought would be a one-off event fifteen years ago, has become an annual occurrence and the highlight of the Fall TOPSoccer season.
Bletsch and his friend and assistant coach Brian Evers, started a single team with seven kids 21 years ago. Neither had a child in the program, which is usually the way people become involved. But both of them saw a need and volunteered their time, which Bletsch says is the most rewarding things he’s ever done in his 28 years in soccer.
“The last thing we talk to the kids about is soccer,” he explained. “The first goal is to get them away from their parents and create a little independence for them, then we want them to interact with their teammates and create some social bonds, then we teach them a little soccer. We have some games and drills that we teach them, and it’s great to see them grasp concepts like moving the ball around the field.”
What has also been great is seeing how the mainstream kids on the intramural and travel teams and members of the NHP HS Key Club have taken to the program. Bletsch began bringing the kids down to help with practices and games many years ago, and some of them still return. A couple of our past players have returned to give back to the program by coaching some of the new, young athletes.
“That’s another real positive here,” he said. We have kids who were involved as coaches when they were young, and even though they’ve gone on to high school and college, they still come back every year. Some are adults now, and they still come back. It’s a positive for everyone in the community. We’ve had kids write about their TOPSoccer experiences in their college essays and use them for other awards and scholarships.”
HS seniors are eligible to compete for a LIJSL TOPSoccer scholarship each spring. NHP has been fortunate to have many of our coaches receive this award. In addition, the family of one of our players who sadly passed away a number of years ago was so pleased with our program that they donate $500 each year for a young coach who is selected by our committee.
If that wasn’t enough, thanks to the efforts of, who else, Bletsch and Evers (and John Lundgren) , an annual golf outing helps cover the costs of the program, which is now run by Bletsch and assisted by Evers and John Lundgren. As a result, the club is able to offer the program at no cost to families. Recently, one of our former players became the first alumni to participate in the golf outing.
"New Hyde Park has run a model program for years," said Pete Bussa, ENYYSA TOPSoccer Chairman. "The nice thing to see is that the whole community is involved, and they are here for no other reason than to give these kids a great experience. We are proud that Long Island has a very successful program for all children."
"This tournament is a big success every year," added LIJSL Board Trustee Michael D'Ambrosio. "Everyone is in this for the right reasons and doing things the right way - from the board, to the volunteers, to the coaches and players. It's such a good feeling to see people working together to create this kind of environment"
After 20 years, Bletsch has turned over the directorship of the program to another friend and very capable coach, Mary Jo Bursig, who has been involved with the program for 16 years, along with her husband and two grown children. But as he continued to point out more and more friends and neighbors who had stopped down to help out, it became clear that this really was a labor of love for an entire community, and though the games had ended on this day, the TOPSoccer games are in good hands and will continue in New Hyde Park for a long time to come.