Bill Rudy, Mrs. Marc Stein and Fred Schoenfeld. Both photos courtesy of the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (Photo courtesy of the LIJSL)

‘The Long Island Junior Soccer League inducted three wonderful volunteers into its Hall of Fame during a brunch at the Huntington Hilton in Melville, N.Y. on Sunday.

The three inductees were Bill Rudy, Marc Stein and Fred Schoenfeld.

Rudy has been president of the Huntington Boys Club for the past 18 years. He can be seen at HBC’s home, the Half Hollow Hills Soccer Complex, from dawn to dusk every Saturday and Sunday during the season. Rudy left the soccer fields for a few hours to attend this ceremony. Prior to becoming president, Rudy held virtually every administrative role within the club. He has seemingly done everything at HBC, which includes lining fields and cutting grass.

Stein died in October 2021 after being an essential part of the LIJSL for decades. He was a mentor, teacher, friend and coach to so many. Stein was a member of the LIJSL board of directors from 2012 until his passing. He also volunteered on the Long Island Cup committee for two decades and 15 years as the Boys Cup chairperson. He also emceed the trophy presentation. Stein was also Ccairperson of the Rules Committee and spent five years as an Age Group Coordinator.

“The positivity that Marc brought to everything he did with that big smile,” LIJSL President Andrew Seabury said in a statement. “He is irreplaceable and we still have not replaced him on the LIJSL Board of Directors.”

Schoenfeld was one of the founders of the Hewlett-Lawrence Soccer Club, then known as Blue Star, in 1971. He established travel teams, started an intramural program, recruited coaches and worked with school districts to be able to use their fields. A decade later, in 1981, Blue Star had 750 youth players when it joined the LIJSL. To this day, Hewlett-Lawrence teams honor its heritage as each team nickname begins with the word “Blue.” The club was also one of the first on Long Island to start a girls program. In 1981, Schoenfeld rebuilt the United States Maccabiah Soccer Program, winning silver medals in both 1983 and 1985 when it had never advanced beyond the group stage before.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.