With the torch passed from long-time league volunteer Anthony Maresco, Andrew Seabury now becomes the 11th President in LIJSL’s storied 55-year history. As President of the largest youth activity organization on Long Island, and one of the largest youth soccer leagues in the United States, he assumes the leadership of over 100 member clubs, nearly 1500 travel teams and more than 50,000 players.
In his message to member club presidents assembled for a recent virtual League General Meeting, Seabury began by commending Maresco, who had served as President since 2015, “First and foremost I take this opportunity to thank Anthony for his untiring service to the league. He’s been both a mentor and a friend to me personally”.
“Moving forward, the key message that I want to stress is continuity. I hope to be a good steward of the ideas and directions that we as a board put in motion and I’m honored with the faith and trust that the board has placed in me. I look forward to serving you all in this capacity”, Seabury added.
Having joined the LIJSL Board in 2011 as a Trustee, Seabury followed a similar path to his predecessor, first ascending to the Treasurer’s position in 2013, then becoming First Vice President in February of this year. The Englishman, who hails from “the red side of Manchester”, entered the US thirty years ago with as he described it, “just a bag of clothes and a box of cassette tapes”. “This is an exciting opportunity to me, and really a testament to what this country is about”, he remarked. “I am excited to serve and continue as we all work together as partners”.
Professionally, since his arrival on “this side of the pond”, Seabury founded and built a very successful international design & build firm, which caters to the food service and retail sectors. “Having the opportunity to work alongside Andrew over the past eight years, I’ve personally seen what a tremendous asset his business acumen, in particular his financial and general management skills, have been to our League”, noted LIJSL Managing Director Steve Padaetz.
In laying out his vision to the club presidents, Seabury stated, “I can promise that as a board and league we will collectively be governed by five key goals;
“Transparency – We want to be open to everything that we do from policies, programs to operations as well as financially. This really can be done by clear communication.”
“Communication – We are committed to always let our membership know what is going on. I think Steve (Padaetz) and the LIJ team has fundamentally changed how we as a league communicate with our membership and we will continue to make this a priority going forward.”
“Financial Prudence – As a past treasurer, obviously financial prudence has always been fundamental to us as a board to run the league. I think without some of the changes we put in process financially over these past few years, we probably could not have overcome the financial loss of the complete season that we all incurred in the spring.”
“Customer Service – We are in the customer service business. I commit that you are our customers and we need to serve your need. That’s what we are looking to continue to do.”
“(Be The) Proactive League – Finally, what we need to do is be the proactive league, not the reactive league. We need to get ahead of the needs of our soccer community and our goal is to lead. As a board, along with the LIJ team, we have made great progress in changing how we do things. We still have a lot to do, and we rely on your input to make us a better run league.”
Seabury, an active club as well as scholastic soccer coach, noted that the grass roots involvement of fellow Board members has helped the league evolve over the past few years. “At both the Board, league level we are involved in the daily game at various levels. Whether coaching, officiating or as parents on the sideline, we’re involved day-to-day. It allows us to adapt and provide some of the solutions and flexibility that you all need”, he noted.
He then concluded by stating, “I think we’re fully committed to serve you our soccer community and find solutions to your challenges, and programs that you want. In the spring we experienced an unprecedented cancellation of the season. This past fall, under the most difficult of circumstances, we collectively pulled off the season. A real testament to all of you working together. You have all been amazing partners in the process and I thank you all for your support of each other and of the league”.
Contreras Named to Open Board Position
President Andrew Seabury appointed Pedro Contreras to the vacant League Director position created by the recent retirement of Anthony Maresco. He joins the LIJSL Board having just recently completed an eight-year term as the President of Hauppauge Soccer Club. Beginning as an intramural volunteer in 2004, Contreras was first elected to the club Board, as Hauppauge’s Treasurer in 2008, before becoming President in 2012. The Smithtown resident is a partner in a LI-based CPA firm providing professional accounting, tax and financial services.
“With Anthony’s retirement, it was important for us to appoint someone with not only deep roots within the Long Island Soccer Community, but who was familiar with the challenges of today’s soccer marketplace. As an immediate past club president, we knew that Pedro would be a great fit to continue the evolution of our Board”, Seabury commented. “His years of experience running a successful member club, along with his extensive business background made this an easy decision for myself and the Board. He is perfectly placed to help our membership and Board move this League forward, and we are very happy to have Pedro as part of our team”, he added.
League Officers Elected
After its’ recent General Meeting, the LIJSL Board of Directors nominated, and voted the following slate of Officers;
| Andrew Seabury | President |
| Michael D’Ambrosio | 1st Vice President |
| Sonia Kelly | 2nd Vice President |
| Jose Alarcon | Treasurer |
| Marc Stein | Secretary |
| Michael Longo | Trustee |
| Pedro Contreras | Trustee |