ANSWER: NISKAYUNA                                                  

If one of the goals of youth soccer at the travel club level is to develop outstanding individual talent, then the Niskayuna Soccer Club has achieved this goal better than most clubs. Just look at the list of players provided.

If another goal is for the club to feed the high school program, again, Niskayuna, especially their women's teams, haven shown the rest of the Capital District and the rest of the state for that matter, how to achieve this goal.

What is their secret and how did they develop outstanding individual players and outstanding teams?
 

The Niskayuna Soccer Club can trace its early beginnings to a group of boys and girls who fell in love with the fame of soccer at Glencliff Elementary School in the late 1970's. Playing soccer at recess, they convinced David Bundy, their phys ed teacher, to enter them in the Dr. Pepper Soccer Jamboree held at Shenendehowa in 1977. In 1978 the CDYSL was officially started and Niskayuna became a charter member.

David Bundy, the boys' Varsity coach, and Bill Bandura formed the Niskayuna club with Bandura being the first president. The first year the club had boy's teams in four divisions and sponsored a developmental program for U8's. All the games were played on the Niskayuna school fields. Niskayuna was the first club in the CDYSL to use single year age groups. Starting in 1983, teams in the under 9, 10, 11 and 12 age groups were kept as single year age groups in the boys divisions as a way to develop team cohesiveness. Niskayuna was also one of the first clubs to offer B level tournaments for both indoor and outdoor as a way of providing more appropriate levels of competition for all players.

As the club grew, the school district would no longer allow the club to use the school fields. Games were played at the Jewish Community Center, Snyders Acre's Farm on Balltown Road and town fields at Avon Crest for two years. The club was fortunate enough for a few ears to call the fields at Windover on Grooms Road in Rexford their home. These fields were developed and owned by Tom Selfridge, a Schenectady businessman and Rugby enthusiast.

Other past presidents who have made contributions are Jim Struble, Bob Nicolella, Tom Trunkebroad and Bob Smith. They helped to incorporate the club in 1983, wrote the first bylaws and started the groundwork to secure land for soccer fields.

Now, Niskayuna Soccer has entered a new era. George Roberts, Mick Chasky and President Paul Matarazzo, together with the town and General Electric have worked out a deal to provide playing fields in Niskayuna. All the Niskayuna teams, 22 of them, are now able to play and practice soccer on fields in Niskayuna.

Today there is a permanent Club House, 7 playing fields, a snack bar, and a pavillion.  Every year is better than the year before.

Niskayuna has produced 6 All Americans (see lists). Five are from the girls program. The girls have won four State Championships. 1993 and 1994 were coached by Brian Speck and 1995 and 1998 were coached by Bryce Colby. The Nutmeg asked Bryce - the current coach of the varsity - what the secret to success was? Here's what he said: "We've always had players who could dribble; take players on. I give most of the credit to Brian Speck. For so many years, Brian taught the girls how to dribble. That's been the difference between winning and losing. We've had so many players who can go to goal and finish. I should also mention that Rich Rini, the Godfather, was the first girls varsity coach and he deserves a lot of credit for starting the program back in the 1970's."

Rini, who's been a math teacher for more than 25 years at Niskayuna, spoke with the Nutmeg.

Nutmeg: They (Bryce Colby and Brian Speck) call you the Godfather of girls soccer.

Rini: Only because of my age.

Nutmeg: They said you started girls varsity soccer at Niskayuna.

Rini: In 1976, our Athletic Director, Don Booth asked if I would coach girls soccer. I told him I hadn't even watched a soccer game before. I took the job and put up a sign up sheet. I took all the girls who signed up and practiced in a soccer clinic put on by Jim Lennox at Burnt Hills (Jim Lennox was and still is the men's' soccer coach at Hartwick). That year we became the 10th and last team to join the suburban council.

Nutmeg: Did you continue to go to clinics or take any coaching courses?

Rini: I went to Hartwick Soccer Camps and continued to learn from Jim Lennox and his assistant Alden Shaduck. I was one of the first local coaches to get a "C" license.

Nutmeg:  How did your teams do in the Suburban Council?

Rini: From 1978-1984 we played in 6 class A championships loosing 3 to Shen and 3 to Burnt Hills. The following year we beat Shen 1-0 to win our first Class A Title.

Nutmeg: We asked Bryce what the secret to Nisky's success was and he credits Brian Speck for teaching the girls how to dribble.

Rini: The year we beat Shen 1-0, Brian was J.V. coach for his second year. Brian coached some of my players the year before. During the fame, when it was still tied at 0-0, Brian turned to me and said, "we are going to win because our players can dribble." He was right. That made the difference.

Nutmeg: So that's the secret to soccer success?

 Rini: I don't think that's all there is to it. I taught Brian a lot about defense. Obviously you can't just have 10 dribblers out on the field but your attackers should be able to dribble and score. Brian gets the credit for developing players who could attack and score with outstanding ability.

The Secret

Dribble. Haven't we said this before? How do you teach players to dribble?

The Nutmeg spoke with Brian and found out that it's true what Bryce and Rich Rini said. Brian did teach and encourage his players to dribble and be creative. He wanted to produce great goal scorers who could dribble and play with confidence. But how did he do it? How did he produce Five all Americans and play a major role in all Four State championships?

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