Oyster Bay United FC moved to just one step from their goal of taking home silverware as champions of the UPSL Northeast Conference on June 18, when 300 passionate and boisterous fans cheered on the semi-pro side in its 3-0 win over rival squad the New Jersey Alliance. This earned them a trip to the conference final scheduled for June 25 against Queensboro FC at the Aviator Center in Brooklyn.
OBUFC’s stellar play was only outshined by the $15,000 contributions made to three local soccer clubs over the past week. At the final regular season match on June 11, the team presented $5,000 checks to both Oyster Bay-East Norwich Youth Soccer Club and the Glen Cove Junior Soccer League. The team continued the generosity at this past weekend’s match by giving another $5,000 check to the Ronkonkoma Real FC who’s U17 squad is currently ranked third in the entire nation.
Oyster Bay United FC has established a reputation for providing an enjoyable, family-friendly fan experience with high quality soccer, as well as free t-shirts and pizza (37 pies last match to be exact) for all supporters. At half-time, dozens of kids take to the pitch to kick balls around. Post-match the kids can take photos and get autographs from players.
During half time presentation of the June 11 match, team owner and president Mark Colacioppo spoke to the crowd, which included representatives from the Oyster Bay-East Norwich and Glen Cove programs about his team’s desire to help grow youth soccer on Long Island and specifically in Oyster Bay. Colacioppo discussed how he hoped having OBUFC play quality competition in front of local fans along with the relationships being made with local clubs which has included players helping train youth players could help positively impact the growth of the game on Long Island.
At this week’s match, members of the Ronkonkoma Real FC U17 squad joined Colacioppo on the field for photos and check presentation. The youth team will compete in the US Youth Soccer Easter Regional Championship in West Virginia this weekend and have a chance to walk away from it as the top ranked team in entire country.