The College
of Staten Island and the Staten Island United Youth Soccer Leagues
have formed a partnership, allowing youth leagues to play and
practice on the new fields on the Willowbrook campus this year at a
discounted rate.
The partnership was arranged with councilmen Vincent Ignizio (South
Shore) and James Oddo (Mid-Island), who helped allocate the funds,
about $800,000, for the soccer field and women's softball field to
be resurfaced with state-of-the-art field turf.
While the deal benefits the SIYSL, which serves over 8,000 families,
Oddo said yesterday that the partnership has more than one benefit.
"I'm a big believer that the more people that come on to this campus
and see this campus, the better it is for Staten Island and the
better it is for CSI. This place sells itself," said Oddo. "The line
we used back then (in 2003, when the finds were first secured) was
that we were not only building a field but building a relationship."
CSI
director of athletics Jason Fein agreed.
"I think we are proving that we can successfully satisfy the CSI
students and student-athletes as well as the rest of the community,"
Fein said. "I think it improves the whole culture of the campus."
"This field was unusable for 15 years, prior to the field turf being
put on here. It was green, but it was like a swamp. And now it's
being used not only by CSI, but by the community," said Angelo
Aponte, vice president for finance and administration at the school.
"One of the commitments we made back then, the college committed
community access to all of our facilities. Besides, they are all
future Dolphins."
Aponte also mentioned there are plans for lights to be installed at
the soccer field and softball field.
"The
sky is the limit from here," said Ignizio. "Jimmy (Oddo) and I
intend on making additional allocations to the facility and, keeping
with the spirit, CSI has said that they are willing to continue to
open up their facilities to the public. It's a win-win for everyone
here today."
"We just
want to thank the councilmen for helping us make this agreement. And
the school has been terrific," said Sandy Rapaglia, board member of
the SIYSL. "We have about 200 kids every night and we do 30 hours a
week here. Our teams that normally would have to play in New Jersey
-- now have a home here."
By Daniel O'Leary
Reprinted here with permission
from the
The College
of Staten Island and the Staten Island United Youth Soccer Leagues
have formed a partnership, allowing youth leagues to play and
practice on the new fields on the Willowbrook campus this year at a
discounted rate. 
CSI
director of athletics Jason Fein agreed. 
"The
sky is the limit from here," said Ignizio. "Jimmy (Oddo) and I
intend on making additional allocations to the facility and, keeping
with the spirit, CSI has said that they are willing to continue to
open up their facilities to the public. It's a win-win for everyone
here today." 
"We just
want to thank the councilmen for helping us make this agreement. And
the school has been terrific," said Sandy Rapaglia, board member of
the SIYSL. "We have about 200 kids every night and we do 30 hours a
week here. Our teams that normally would have to play in New Jersey
-- now have a home here." 
