Former Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) President Peter Masotto has passed away at 78 years old on February 27.
”I am very sad to learn of the passing of my friend, Peter, who always put the players first in everything he did,” commented ENYYSA President Richard Christiano.
Masotto served as ENYYSA President for an amazing 23 years from 1984 to 2006 and was an ENYYSA Board Member for 27 years. Until his death, he was still volunteering with ENYYSA in selecting the four girls recipients annually for the Patricia Louis Masotto/Brenda Driscoll Scholarship and the Jack Bauman scholarship.
As a coach, Masotto is best known for guiding the Massapequa Falcons to the 1986 Girls Under-19 national championship and to the 1987 final. The Falcons won eight State Open Cup crowns and three East Region titles. Masotto coached several girls teams to 18 state titles. He directed the Northport/Cow Harbor Elite into the 1994 national final. All his teams competed in the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL).
Masotto also was US Youth Soccer girls coach of the year in both 1984 and 1996. He is the only person ever to receive this award more than once which is a testament to how great a coach he was.
The Babylon resident was inducted into four Soccer Halls of Fame: Eastern New York (1998), LIJSL (1999), East Hudson Youth Soccer League (2004) and East Region (2013). He also was named a Life Member of Eastern New York and US Soccer.
Eastern New York’s girls-under-16 State Open Cup champions receive the Peter Masotto Cup every June. The girls-under-16 national championship was once named after his daughter, Patricia Louise Masotto, who was tragically killed by a drunken driven along with teammate Brenda Driscoll in 1985.
We have lost a very good man. May he rest in peace!