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ROTTERDAM
Soccer club marks 35 years of play
Immigrants built league from scratch, then game grew quickly in popularity
BY MARCY VELTE Gazette Reporter

    When Cesare Maniccia moved to the Capital Region in the late 1960s, he was surprised how few people in the area were soccer fans. Even fewer played the game.
    The thought was inconceivable to the Italian native and several of his friends — after all, football, as it’s called elsewhere, was practically the only sport they played as boys.
    To combat the loss of their favorite pastime, the Rotterdam residents began an adult soccer league. A few years later, when parents began to say their children were interested too, a youth league was formed.
    On Sunday, the Rotterdam Youth Soccer Club celebrated its 35th anniversary with a family fun day for past and present club players.
    “It makes me proud to see how big the program has grown,” said Maniccia, 74.
    The program was private for the first two years, until it got so big children were being turned away. Maniccia eventually asked to partner with the town so more kids could join.
    Now, about 700 youths participate in the recreation program each fall, about 250 children sign up for the spring recreation program, and about 300 play on traveling teams.
    Current President Dave McDermott said Rotterdam’s youth soccer program in one of the largest in the Capital Region and a tight-knit community has been formed over the years.
    “Once you get involved, you usually stick around,” he said. “Many kids later become youth coaches once they graduate.”
    Maniccia said the club feeds players into the Shalmont and Mohonasen schools and, for some, the club has become a family tradition. .....................>>>>.......................>>>>.....................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01000&AppName=1