Among the clubs that have made a name for themselves in American elite youth soccer, Alberton Soccer Club on Long Island is one of the most prominent. The continuing pattern of top Girls teams combined with an up-and-coming Boys program has punctuated the club’s stature on the soccer landscape after more than 30 years of operation.

“The program formed as a small, local club,” Albertson President Bob Testa explains, “and now we have almost 2000 players and are still growing.” 

The mission of the club is to “provide children with a positive soccer experience, which incorporates the development of good skills, team participation and fun.” 

 

Albertson Soccer Club is the home of over 28 premier teams, 32 travel teams, two USSF Academy teams and a strong recreational program. 

Testa takes pride on the range of teams at the club.

“We’re one of the few top-to-bottom clubs in the country,” Testa said. “We have a large recreational program for kids starting at the age of 3 and travel teams for players up until the age of 23.”

Michael Bruh, Albertson SC Intramural Director and coach, describes what he sees as a distinctive of Albertson’s.

“Many premier clubs are just focused on their premier teams,” he said. “We still have a focus on the community teams.”

Albertson is one of 4 teams from Eastern New York in the USSF Development Academy. Testa said the club’s involvement was a natural goal.

“The USSF Academy Program is the highest level youth soccer program in the US at this time,” he said. “The admission process was extremely selective.  By joining the Development Academy, Albertson hopes to focus more on player development and provide players with more competition.”

An integral part of the Albertson SC is its close collaboration with the Paul Riley Soccer School of Excellence.

Riley describes the school as “built on the premise that through extensive ball work, hard work and diligent practice, players can improve.”

He also calls the school "the training and coaching arm of the club.”

If you watch the top Albertson teams compete, you will recognize some similar characteristics that are keys to their success, particularly including players who are good on the ball. Riley’s work has helped make the club a coveted destination for many area players, even from a young age. Riley has also been a key figure in the club’s relationship with women’s teams such as Long Island Fury.   

A native of Liverpool, England, Riley has enjoyed a lot of success at Albertson. With a combination of college, club and professional experience, Riley brings a lot of knowledge to the club.  As a player he led his Adelphi University team in all-time points and assists, and the A League/LI Rough Riders in all-time assists.  He’s coached in the professional and collegiate ranks, as well as leading several youth teams to State Cup Championships in the past.  He currently coaches several Albertson teams and continues on as the Head Coach of Long Island Fury in the WPSL and Long Island Academy FC of the NPSL.

In addition to Riley, Albertson Soccer Club coaches include Nick Fitzpatrick, Billy Gatti, Chris Giuffrida, Kevin Koehn, Joe Marchetta, Marcelo Arango, Phil Casella, Adam Bruh and Daniel Leon.

Albertson teams all follow the same schedule.  They train on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays with Fridays off and Mondays optional.  If players are unable to make their training time, they are welcome to join in on another time slot.  This flexibility is a big help for players traveling long distances to get to practices.  All teams train year round with two weeks off in July.  Teams travel together to tournaments and participate in the same tournaments each year: WAGS, Bethesda, Raleigh, Disney, Vegas, Jefferson Cup, PDA and Surf Cup occasionally. 

“I don’t dislike anything about the club,” said Karin Simonian, a regional player who played two years up on the Albertson ’89 Fury team.  “Training is so much better than my old club team.   Albertson is much more competitive.”

Simonian follows in a long line of bright stars at Albertson, and is now at the age where she is beginning to consider colleges to attend, with the likes of UCLA, Florida State, Boston College, Penn State and Duke already vying for her services. Such talent is somewhat commonplace at Albertson.

In the past 8 years the Fury program has brought home 16 State Cups and 3 Regional Championships.  Just a few days ago, 2 more State Cup titles were added to that by the Albertson ’90 Fury girls and Albertson ’90 Academy boys.  This year marked the first time in Albertson SC history that six teams went to the ENY State Cup Finals. The ’89 team was the first team to take the name Fury, which has now become a tradition for all Albertson girls’ teams. 

The Boys Program is striving to make a name for itself now, with Albertson ’94 Academy, ’92 Academy and ’88 Academy standing among the top teams in the region. 

According to Testa, “there is more competition on the island for boy’s soccer, so some top players are drawn to other places, while with girl’s soccer we have already made a name for ourselves.”

“On the girls side there are nine national players, 28 regional players and about 65 to 70 state players,” Riley said.  “Due to the recent development of the Academy, the men’s side does not have as many, but still has “one national player, 3 to 4 regional players and about 15 state players.”

 

Testa said part of Albertson’s success is emphasis on an attractive style of play. “We’re not a bang and run sort of club,” Testa states, “Paul Riley likes to see a controlled game out of the back.”

“Often it’s not as much about winning as it is about the quality of soccer,” agreed Riley.

The club is putting much effort toward the developmental program it started just a year ago.  Testa and Riley agree that in the future soccer clubs are going to rely more on the younger age groups, so Albertson is hoping to get a head start. 

“We already have 250 kids in the U-5 program,” Riley said.

In addition to providing great soccer training, the Albertson Club does much to help its players in the college search. 

“Paul Riley and his staff are very familiar with college coaches,” Testa explains, “we are also involved with Long Island Junior Soccer League and their college bound seminars.”

Bruh speaks from experience as he describes how Paul Riley helped his own children in the college search.   

“He meets individually with each player to review colleges that the player feels are appropriate for them and then he’ll offer his opinion as to whether or not it would be a good fit,” he said. “He then talks to the parents about the academic aspects of each college.”

The club will bring in former Albertson players with college experience to speak to younger players about the recruitment process and playing college soccer.  Testa also discussed how Albertson SC offers discounted SAT review courses to players, focusing on intellectual growth as well as soccer development.

“Ultimately our job is to get kids into the top colleges in the country” Riley concludes, “coaches like to watch our players play and if they like to watch them play, they are likely to recruit them.”

“We are at the point where tournament directors come to us because they want us there,” Testa boasts.  But according to Riley, there’s still some work that must be done. 

“We must continue to establish ourselves.  Ultimately we’d like to get 90 teams in the club with three in each age group and eventually we’d like our own facility with fields and a clubhouse and an after school program for players,” Riley states.  Albertson SC has several fields that they call home and eventually they would like to change that.

Don’t bet against it.