OXFORD – Isuf Ceno moved to Canada from his native Albania 10 years ago. He came from a culture that lived and breathed soccer, and he described his love for soccer almost as if it was a religion. “Soccer is culture to us,” Ceno said, who moved to Norwich over a year ago.
Ceno found an Albanian community in Canada that regularly played indoor and outdoor soccer. When he moved south to the United States, the opportunities to play soccer were much more limited. He traveled throughout the Southern Tier to Oneonta, Sidney, Cortland, and Elmira among other places to find opportunities to play. His son, who also plays soccer, became involved in the youth soccer programs offered locally, and soon was a part of the Chenango Soccer Club. When Ceno discovered Emerson Fields in Oxford – who host CSC games – he knew he found a place in which he could continue to pursue his sports passion.
“My first year here, there was almost nothing,” Ceno said in summing up the amount of soccer he played. “Around here, this field (in Oxford) is definitely the best.”
The Chenango Soccer Club opened Emerson Fields for play in 2002, and for many years, barely stayed afloat financially. Most of the field maintenance was contracted out, and the Soccer Club needed to consistently run fundraisers, hold money-making tournaments, and seek funds from well-meaning benefactors to meet costs.
Julian Drelich, who now serves as the field coordinator, recently said that the field is now a self-sustaining entity. It helps that Drelich spends several hours each week mowing the six acres of land, and his wife, Sylvia, handles all of the concessions at soccer events. “We want to thank all of the people who helped establish this,” Julian Drelich said. “It was a lot of effort and a lot of money. The local supervisors and all of the local officials supported this field. (The field) is not going under and the payback is there. Club members take care of the facility, coaches volunteer...no one is paid, and we’re doing it for the community.”
Drelich’s involvement in the Chenango Soccer Club was in large part due to his son Evan’s participation in youth soccer. Evan Drelich has since graduated from high school – and college – yet the Drelich parents remained involved. The same story is true of club president Bob Nassar. All of Nassar’s children played soccer in Norwich, while also competing on the Chenango Soccer Club’s teams. Nassar’s youngest child is in her last year of soccer, yet Nassar remains involved, and isn’t planning to leave his post with the club.
“A lot of the people who still volunteer for the club, many of their kids have aged out,” Nassar said. “Most of the people have stayed involved even though they don’t have kids playing. It’s a great organization, and we’re lucky to have so much community support.”
In a time when many organized soccer camps are seeing decreasing numbers, the Chenango Soccer Club’s most recent camps – led by coaches from the New York Red Bulls – have seen exponential growth in the yearly turnout. Earlier this summer, over 100 kids appeared for a one-day clinic, and the week-long camp saw nearly five dozen kids. The high caliber of the field has not gone unnoticed by collegiate teams as St. Bonaventure’s Division One women’s team recently played an exhibition against Long Island University. Previously, Binghamton University, Syracuse, Penn State, and Colgate have also used the field for exhibition contests. Emerson Fields was universally lauded by every collegiate team and every outside-the-area club appearing for a tournament.
“People have come to this field and say, ‘why here?’ They don’t have fields like this one where they play,” Drelich said.
Now that the club is no longer worrying about staying afloat financially, it can now proceed with the task of building interest in area soccer. Friday nights this summer, the field was opened to the community for pick-up soccer games. As many as 30 people have attended for pickup games, Drelich said. One of those regular Friday regulars is Norwich resident Andre Bryant. Bryant played high school soccer at Gilbertsville-Mt. Upton, but stepped away from the game after graduation. His interest in the game was rekindled after the 2006 World Cup, and since that time, has sought out opportunities to play.
“There are probably a lot of people like me who like to play, but don’t know the areas to play,” Bryant said. “They have a great facility here and Julian does a great job. The grass is always well kept and in great shape every time.”
Drelich said it wasn’t too long ago that he thought the (fields) were going down and out of business. Thanks to some shrewd financial moves, the Chenango Soccer Club can now direct its efforts at promoting the game. “Whatever we can do to help out with soccer, we’ll do it,” Drelich said.