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Tuesday, April 29

WESTCHESTER, NY – FC Westchester will again look to match last year’s season success when it sent three teams – its U14, U15 and U17 boys – to the Super Y-League North American Finals.

“We are confident we will be down in Florida again in force,” said FC Westchester Director of Coaching Sean Kenny. “We are currently looking good and are very confident in each of the teams participating in the Super Y-League.”

Kenny noted that the club and its current and past players had a great deal of success of late, in providing premier-level competition that is resultant in both team and player recognition.

For instance, 21 members of FC Westchester were selected to attend the Super Y-League Olympic Development Program National Camps in Cocoa, Florida in February 2008. There, the selection committees included coaches from prestigious colleges and universities from around the country, as well as some of the top youth clubs in the country.

Players selected to attend the SYL ODP National Camp included: Cesar Ceja, Brian Kenny, Jonathan Martinez, Andres Radich and Roberto Silva from the FC Westchester ’94s; Michael Abraham, Gerardo Ceja, Ryan McNamara, Marques Mayoras, Andres Penfold, Rory Shepard and Osvaldo Torres from the FC Westchester ’93s; Bucky Illingworth and Brian Span from the FC Westchester ’92 Boys; Brian Cabrera and Thomas McNamara from the ’91 Boys and Stepjan Bandov, John Gallagher, George Pourakis, Chris Holihan and Josh Renner from the ’90 Boys.

Following the camps, the SYL ODP Coaching Staff produced the list of players named to the Super Y-League Select Teams from their respective age groups – McNamara and Gerardo Ceja were selected for the elite, North American all-star team.

“Also, based in large part on the training and success they received at FC Westchester, many of our players have of late garnered a lot of success at the next level,” Kenny said, pointing to the following:

Richard Martinez of the FC Westchester ’88 Boys - ESPNsoccernet Article [+]
Now a Hofstra sophomore defender, was called up during the winter and early spring of this year to join the Puerto Rico National Team to participate in World Cup qualifiers.

Andre Borges, an FC Westchester ’82 alum
Earlier this year Borges signed a one-year contract with CR Vasco da Gama, a Rio de Janeiro-based team that competes in Brazil’s first division. Borges is playing for the reknown former Brazilian World Cup star Romário, who is Vasco da Gama’s player/ manager. For Borges, who played for the FC Westchester ’82 Boys under FC Westchester founder Al Pastore, getting a chance to work with Romário is the latest highlight in a professional career that began shortly after his playing days at Clemson University in South Carolina. He was a starter his final two seasons at Clemson and helped the Tigers make the NCAA tournament each of his four years, including a pair of Elite 8 appearances.

Piero Bellizzi of the FC Westchester ’89 Boys
Now a freshman at Northwestern University, Bellizzi was named to Soccer America’s All-Freshman 1st team. Bellizzi was also honored as the Big Ten Conference’s Freshman-of-the-Year and was voted as a unanimous selection to the Big-10 All-Freshman Team and named the All Big-Ten second team.

Josh Renner ‘89, Nico Mossa ’89, Daniel Aucar ’90
Three FC Westchester players who moved onto play in college in 2007 were named to the 2007 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) All-Rookie Team. Gaining this recognition were Josh Renner of the FCW ’89 Boys who plays at Manhattan College; Daniel Aucar of the FCW ’90 Boys who plays at Siena College and Nico Mossa of the ’89 Boys who plays at Marist College.

Stefano Miglioranzi & Ricky Schramm ‘86
Miglioranzi is a key player for the Columbus Crew. And FC Westchester ‘86 alum Ricky Schramm of the ’86 Boys was fighting for a roster spot on the MLS’s Red Bull New York team.

FCW Seniors headed to top Collegiate Programs
John Gallagher: Penn State, Stephen Paresi: Villanova, Lenny Young: Valparaiso, George Pourakis and Adam Rohan: Iona College, Christopher Holihan and Anthony Florez: Manhattan College, Aaron Markowitz: Fordham University.