Valley Stream Soccer Club members to be honored on Dec. 4

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The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association, a local branch of a national soccer association, named two Valley Stream parents as dignitaries earlier this month for their services to the community’s soccer club.

Azzedine Layachi, who coaches a soccer program for young athletes with special needs, was named 2016’s coach of the year by the organization, and Jennifer Graham, vice president of the Valley Stream Soccer Club, was named volunteer of the year. The two will be celebrated at a holiday party at Marina del Rey in the Bronx on Dec. 4.

“I wasn’t expecting it, and it really came as a surprise,” Layachi said. “It feels good, not for me personally, but for the fact that our endeavors in the interest of kids with special needs get some attention. I think that’s the biggest benefit of this.”

Layachi teamed up with VSSC President Timmy Graham in 2014 to establish The Outreach Program for Soccer, or TOPSoccer, in Valley Stream. The program launched in 1978 and there are now 26 soccer clubs involved in it across Long Island.

Layachi’s son, Zakrya, 11, was diagnosed with autism when he was 9 months old. Layachi said his son was frustrated with soccer in the past because he didn’t know what to do when he was on the field. He searched frantically across Long Island and eventually enrolled his son in the TOPSoccer program in Hempstead. Layachi then sought to bring the program to Valley Stream. He was able to do so by working with Timmy Graham, who had just become president of the VSSC.

“Within the first year, we had 31 kids registered,” Layachi said. “Every kid gets a free uniform, a free soccer ball and is not charged a penny for the program. It is all free.”

In addition, Layachi coaches two youth travel teams in Valley Stream.

“He’s perfect for the program,” Timmy Graham said of Layachi. “He is a great guy and wonderful with the children.”

The program meets every Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Brooklyn Avenue Elementary School. Red Bulls trainer Evagelos Vassilaras helps with the more advanced players and the children engage in games, scrimmages and drills. Layachi said that many middle and high school students sometimes attend to mentor the young players.

Layachi hopes the awards will generate awareness for the program. “I dedicate this award to the wonderful kids in our TOPS program,” Layachi said, “and to the young volunteers and the parents who support their children by bringing them down to play every Saturday.”

Jennifer Graham, Timmy’s wife, is in charge of the intramural program, and her husband said she routinely devotes between 50-60 hours per week to the soccer club.

“I don’t like to take credit for anything,” she said. “So for me, I feel honored that they even chose me and I don’t like to put myself out there for that kind of stuff, so when people do that, it makes me feel that what you do is worth it and people appreciate what you do. It’s really for everybody.”