Soccer club teams up with pros for growth

The Woodhaven Soccer Club is teaming up with F.C. New York – the first-year United Soccer League team based in Queens – in an effort to increase the awareness of soccer in the area.
The young athletes will get the chance to work with professional soccer players and receive much more than just soccer tips.
“When they are here, they are explaining to the kids how hard it is to succeed,” said Woodhaven Soccer Club president Anthony DiCocco. “It’s not like we’re just letting players come here and they think automatically ‘I’m going to be a professional player.’ No, they need to work and put the time and effort in.”
The club focuses on soccer, but according to DiCocco – who also has a child in the league – it’s also about education.
“We also preach education,” he said. “Our mission to these kids is to use soccer to further your education.”
Through this affiliation with a USL pro team, the Woodhaven Soccer Club hopes to become an even greater home of soccer to all kids in the area. F.C. New York Director of Soccer Carlo Acquista couldn’t be happier that both sides got together.
“We will help Woodhaven expand to a bigger, stronger club in Queens,” Acquista said. “Being affiliated with a pro club, there are a lot of things we’re going to do together, if it’s sharing training sessions, or their coaches coming to our pro team practices and games. Just being able to ask questions and having an open relationship in every aspect of the sport.”
Aquista, a former St. John’s University soccer player, also believes this will increase the number of players in the club while giving the kids an opportunity to play in a higher league down the road, get noticed by college coaches and hopefully score scholarships.
“It shows them that there is soccer in New York, in Queens, and gives them an opportunity if they want to go that route,” he said.
“This is just another way that we are getting bigger and improving,” DiCocco said. “The players are the ones benefiting from this. We want to give these kids every opportunity to succeed in the sport they love. And the sport is actually growing.”
DiCocco, along with public relations director Babita Perreira, share in the philosophy that the kids come first. They both feel strongly that this affiliation with a professional team will only have a positive impact on the players.
“It makes the kids happy and that’s the most important thing,” Perreira said.
As for the coaches, they are excited too. Kevin Nunez is the head coach of the U-14 travel team and has been involved in the league for nearly a decade. He said the kids are thrilled to work with the pros.
“They were very excited,” said Nunez. “They see it as a new opportunity for them to show their skills and help to develop them.”
F.C. New York plays their home games at Belson Stadium on the St. John’s University campus. They still have more than half of their games remaining on the schedule, while Woodhaven is just finishing up their spring games which will give way to their summer season in mid-June.
For more information about registration for the Woodhaven Soccer Club or future F.C. New York games, visit their web sites at www.woodhavensoccerclub.com and www.fcnewyorksoccer.com.