The Long Island Rough Riders aren’t just about playing games on the field and providing a gateway to young players to perform through college and beyond.
The organization also knows who important it is to support causes in the community.
The Rough Riders recently attended two summer events, helping raise money for the Pediatrics Unit at Good Samaritan Hospital and helping operate camp for neurodivergent individuals.
Ollie Whaley and Evan Chrysostomou attended the third annual tournament, an event that has helped to raise $11,274 for the hospital. The tourney pit bars, restaurants and other organizations, such as Catholic Health, playing 6 v 6 soccer matches throughout the afternoon.
The winner was the hospital, as thousands of dollars were raised. The Harp & Hound sponsored a page in which $11,274 was taken in for the pediatric unit.
“The event was really good,” Whaley said. “Everyone was really welcoming. It was a perfect day for it. When you do these events as well, it’s quite tricky. You’re sort of crossing your fingers to hope for the weather. “It was great, Evan and I were happy to support the club in being there to raise money for a good cause.”
Catholic Health, which is a Rough Riders sponsor, had a tent and a couple of teams competing in the tournament.
The Harp and Hound, a pub and restaurant located in East Islip, N.Y., organized the event. Kyra Comiskey, the owner of The Harp and Hound and Flanagan’s Pub in Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y. organized the tournament. It has grown since then.
When Comiskey’s daughter Hallíe was six weeks old start to fight viral meningitis in her brain followed by many seizures and viral infections Hallíe was left with a compromised immune system and is a chronic asthmatic.
“Without having such an amazing pediatric unit right at our doorstep at Good Sam, she wouldn’t be the happy & healthy girl that she is today!” the Good Samaritan fundraising page stated.
Whaley got an opportunity to meet Hallie, who turned four in July.
“She was a lovely, sweet girl,” he said. “She looked like she was in really good spirits as well, which was great to see.”
The two Rough Riders representatives visited the various pub’s tents and handed out 40 Rough Riders T-shirts to children attending the tournament. They also gave away some soccer balls and bags.
“It was good to see that some of them would put the jersey straight on,” Whaley said about the shirts.
They even were recruited on to play for one of the teams.
“We didn’t want to [play] initially. We wanted to make sure we were talking and getting around with everyone,” Whaley said. “But there was a bar called The Changing Times. They called upon myself and Evan. I think they had a couple of people who had to shoot off in the afternoon. So we jumped in with them. We didn’t do great. We came up against a team who they took it very seriously. We actually managed to score a goal with about two seconds on the clock. The team which we played for … conceded a lot of goals. That one goal, they were so happy.”
Needless to say, so was Good Samaritan Hospital, the pubs, restaurants and Rough Riders.
The Rough Riders also helped operate a soccer clinic Camp Kehilla for neurodivergent campers over the summer.
The camp, which is run by the Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center, was created for children between the ages of 5 to 21 with developmental disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, and/or other neurodevelopmental conditions. Besides soccer, there are many other camp activities, such as swimming, arts and crafts and, of course, several sports.
“This is our second year working with Camp Kehilla,” Rough Riders General Manager Tanner Sands said. “It’s one that our coaches look forward to going to every year, as the staff and kids who are at that camp are great. Soccer is for everyone, so being able to bring the game to neurodivergent campers is a rewarding experience and one that becomes a highlight for us every year and we hope to continue for years to come.”