On June 22, 2017, WGR550 “Inside High School Sports” interview Jeff Richardson and James Cornelius with the Amani Officials group. They discussed a variety of issues including: USA Football HeadsUp Football (HUF) certification; what it takes to be an official; the training that goes into being an official and many other topics.

Please click on the link below to listen to the entire interview:
http://www.wgr550.com/media/audio-channel/7-22-inside-high-school-sportsmp3

On April 22, 2017 at the Starpoint High School Auditorium and Gymnasium in Lockport, New York, USA Football Master Trainers Ken Stoldt and Chad Bartoszek along with USA Football East Regional Manager Aaron Hill and NFL Offensive Line Coach legend Jim “Mouse” McNally were the keynote presenters at NEYSA’s 1st annual Coach’s Clinic.  Coach McNally kicked off the interactive session teaching the coaches in attendance about offensive line run and pass blocking techniques.  After his presentation, Mr. Stoldt and Bartoszek took the coaches to the Starpoint High School gymnasium and demonstrated the new Heads Up Football (HUF) Shoulder Tackling protocols with the coaches participating in a series of drills.

Over ninety (90) coaches and Player Safety Coaches were in attendance from NEYSA and from the Niagara Orleans Football Association (NOFA).

New equipment from Shadowman Sports (the Shadowman Junior) and Fisher Athletics (Tackle Wheel) were on display and used throughout the hands-on demonstrations.

WGRZ, Channel 2’s Jeff Preval was present to report on the drills and the new techniques.

His report is below:

http://www.wgrz.com/news/concussion-safety-seminar/433445078

On March 18, Tony Caligiuri and the WGR550 Inside High School Sports team welcomed Tony Surace from Niagara Falls Memorial Medical/UBMD Orthopaedic to discuss the use of Athletic Trainers in today’s game of football as well as recognizing National Athletic Trainer Month.

He spoke about the local efforts of Niagara Falls Memorial Medical/UBMD Orthopaedic and the use of Athletic Trainers in high school and youth sports.

NEYSA was also mentioned as a leader in utilizing Athletic Trainers for all their games.

Please click the link below to hear the whole story:

http://www.wgr550.com/media/audio-channel/3-18-inside-high-school-sportsmp3

To learn more about Athletic Trainers, please contact Tony Surace at his email

NEYSA President Ray Turpin responds to the introduction of bill in New York to ban tackle football for youth players under the age of 14.

Please click the link below for the story:

http://wivb.com/2017/02/02/no-tackle-football-a-knee-jerk-reaction-coach-says/

On January 12, 2017, the Lancaster Youth Football and Cheer organization applied to become a member of NEYSA. After their franchise application was reviewed and a presentation was made by their President and Commissioner, the NEYSA Board of Commissioners and Representatives voted unanimously to add the Lancaster Youth Football and Cheer organization to our League.

All of our existing organizations welcomes Lancaster Youth Football and Cheer and look forward to a successful year.

WGR550 Sports Radio “Inside High School Sports” program has done two live broadcasts from two NEYSA fields. On Saturday, September 24, the highly popular “Inside High School Sports” crew from WGR 550 Sports Radio, led by their host, Tony Caligiuiri broadcasted live from the North Tonawanda Athletic Association’s (NTAA) home at Rescue Field in North Tonawanda. The “Inside High School Sports” crew also broadcasted on October 8 from Grand Island Junior Vikings’ Veteran’s Field.

Having the “Inside High School Sports” show at the NTAA versus Niagara Falls Junior game and the Grand Island Junior Vikings versus the Niagara Falls Rattlesnakes was exciting for the kids and parents who were in attendance.  The WGR 550 Sports Radio personalities made the two events that much more special for those kids by showing their interest in and giving the players, cheerleaders, coaches and attendees the thrill of having a live radio broadcast at a youth football game.

To hear the events, please click on the Audio Vault link from WGR 550 Sports Radio, below:

http://media.wgr550.com/a/116822814/09-24-inside-high-school-sports.htm

http://media.wgr550.com/a/117005325/10-08-inside-high-school-sports.htm

At the League’s annual mandatory “Commissioners, Coaches and Statisticians” meeting held on July 27 at Starpoint High School, NEYSA teamed up with Niagara County Sheriff James Voutour to present information about Domestic Violence to over 300 attendees.  Prompted by seeing a quote from local Domestic Violence advocate and author Linda Dynel, NEYSA’s officials decided to provide information to their participants to better educate them in Domestic Violence issues.

The quote from Ms. Dynel was “If we are ever going to end Domestic Violence, it’s going to have to start with the way that we raise our sons.”  For more information from Ms. Dynel, please go to her website http://www.lindadynel.com.

For more information from Niagara County Sheriff Voutour regarding Domestic Violence, please go to http://www.niagarasheriff.com

For Channel 2’s Jeff Preval’s coverage of the event, please click on the link below:

http://www.wgrz.com/news/local/domestic-violence-talk-held-for-football-coaches/282929745

Across our League, our member organizations spent time throughout the weekend, reflecting on the 15th year anniversary of 9/11.

A special event was held at Lewiston Porter Youth Football League’s field on Sunday, September 11 and attended by many families, including their opponent for the day, the Grand Island Junior Vikings.  Also in attendance were members of the Niagara Falls Police Department, the Lewiston Police Department, the Youngstown Fire Department as well as many current and former military members and First Responders.

WGRZ Channel 2 in Buffalo had this story about events throughout Western New York

http://www.wgrz.com/news/911-ceremonies-around-western-new-york/316705333

WIVB, Channel 4 in Buffalo, New York had a special feature, presented by Christy Kern, regarding contact in practice from a recent published article in the Journal of Neurosurgery. NEYSA was featured along with Dr. Elad Levy, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Buffalo.

To see this story, please click on the link below:
http://wivb.com/2016/09/07/new-study-shows-some-practice-drills-more-dangerous-for-youth-football-players/

On August 1, 2016, the Niagara Erie Youth Sports Association, Inc. (NEYSA) President, Ray Turpin, was recognized by the Town of Cheektowaga by receiving a Proclamation for obtaining the funding for the purchase of Automatic External Defibrillators (AED) for ten (10) NEYSA member organizations.

Town Supervisor Diane Benczkowski presented the Town of Cheektowaga Proclamation to Mr. Turpin.

NEYSA wants to thank the following: the Town of Cheektowaga, Supervisor Benczkowksi and Joe D’Amaro for this honor; the Niagara County Legislature and UBMD Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine for providing the grant funding for these vital pieces of equipment and finally Physio-Control and Heartsmart for providing NEYSA with the AED.