Soccer club New York International FC (NYIFC) is inviting the Astoria community to lace up its sneakers and join the club’s top athletes for a charity 5K with a poignant cause this Saturday.
NYIFC, founded in 2019 by members of New York City’s international community, is hosting its fourth annual 5K run on Nov. 15 to honor the memory of Davide Giri, a former player who died after an unprovoked attack after a training session in December 2021.
Giri, a native of Italy and a 30-year-old Columbia University Ph.D. student, was one of the first players to join New York International when the club was founded in 2019. He was stabbed to death during an unprovoked attack in Manhattan’s Morningside Park on Dec. 2, 2021.
The club launched its “5k for Davide” in 2022 to honor Giri’s memory and has been holding the event annually ever since.
The fourth annual event is scheduled to take place between 9:30 and 11:3o a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 15, starting outside 21-03 31st Ave. in Astoria. The event is co-hosted by NYIFC and Fit Club Astoria Physical Therapy, which is located at the race’s starting point.
The race is accessible to runners of all ages of ability, with participants as young as nine and as old as 70 participating in previous events.
The event is donation-based, with NYIFC suggesting a donation of $25. All proceeds will go toward food insecurity non-profit EV Loves NYC, which provides meals to Malikah Safety Center on Steinway Street, among other organizations.
New York International co-founder and first team coach Gary Philpott told QNS last year that the annual event helps to honor Giri’s memory and keep his spirit alive. He added that the event takes on a greater importance with each passing year in order to remember Giri’s life.
“The first year, there was more of an initiative to do things because it was so fresh and so close,” Philpott told QNS last year. “But the grieving changes and life goes on and there are times when it’s not as present as it used to be. That’s why it’s even more important to hold the 5K now. If we skip it after only a couple of years, it will just die out.”
Philpott described Giri as a “good friend” who helped build New York International. He added that there was an “incredible” outpouring of grief and solidarity following Giri’s murder four years ago.
“Obviously, there can’t be any real positives because it was such a horrible tragedy, but the amount of people who showed up for the club and the messages of support that we received, the community aspect of it has been incredible. We’ve created so many relationships,” Philpott added.
Nicholas Alexandrakos, Director of Community Outreach at NY International, said last year that Giri remains central at NY International.
“You will see Davide involved in everything that New York International does,” Alexandrakos said. “The club does not want his life and his legacy to be overshadowed by tragedy. Instead, they want to make sure that they’re uplifting and celebrating his life and legacy.”
The inaugural 5k for Davide raised over $7,000 toward a computer science scholarship at Columbia University in Giri’s name and Alexandrakos said the university was so “touched” by the gesture that they are now privately financing the scholarship.
He said NY International subsequently pivoted to raising funds for EV Loves NYC while also shining a light on Giri’s legacy.
Starting with a “very strong base of international players”, NYIFC joined the lowest tier of the Cosmopolitan Soccer League (CSL) in 2019, which was first established in 1923 and is one of the oldest regular soccer leagues in the US.
With a strong focus on giving back to the community, NYIFC has rocketed through the league system and now competes with elite amateur and semi-professional outfits in the American Premier Soccer League.
