Mineola Resident Receives Soccer Sportsmanship Award

Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) Olympic Development Program (ODP) coach Ian Stone, who is also the head coach of the Region 1 East ODP Girls-Under-17 squad, received the Bob Blitz Sportsmanship Award from the New York Metro Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association (NYMISOA) at The Sterling in Bethpage on November 11.

The referees of NYMISOA selected Stone for the award based on their officiating of college soccer games from Westchester to Long Island. He also won the NYMISOA Sportsmanship Award in 1994, his first year in charge of coaching the St. John’s Red Storm women, and is one of only seven coaches to receive the NYMISOA Sportsmanship Award twice.

Stone is the third-longest tenured head coach at St. John's University. He has received many impressive accolades, including 13 postseason tournament appearances, 2009 and 2013 NCAA Tournament berths, the 1994 Big East Championship and 2002 ECAC Championship titles, 2006 Big East Coach of the Year honors and 2009 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Northeast Region Coach of the Year accolades.

The Mineola resident is also a two-time winner of the St. John's Herbert Hess Coach of the Year award, which he received in 1998 and 2008. A coach that values his team's classroom and character development, he has coached 10 consecutive squads that have earned the NSCAA Team Academic Award.

Stone emigrated to the United States from Bristol, England and played for the nationally-renowned Bristol Boys team. He graduated with honors from the West London Institute of Education (now Brunel University) in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in physical education and English. During his collegiate playing career, the team won the British Collegiate Championship three consecutive years, from 1986 to ‘88. He captained the team his senior year and set the school record for goals scored in a season. He also played on the reserve team of the English Premier League club, Chelsea.

In 2005, he led the Eastern New York ODP South Girls-Under-16 team to the 2005 U.S. Youth Soccer Region 1 championship. He also coached the two-time Region 1 champion HBC Magic of the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL) from 1999 to 2002.

“I have been refereeing Ian’s teams for the past 20 years, both in youth soccer and at St. John’s, and I have never heard him complain about the officiating decisions,” NYMISOA Vice President Randy Vogt said. “It’s very nice that he has achieved a good level of success with the Red Storm while continuing to develop the character of his players.”

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