November 22, 2011
THANKS, COACH
York's Cunningham gets referee sportsmanship award

Nearly 100 intercollegiate soccer officials from the five boroughs of New York City plus the suburbs of Long Island and Westchester officiate in the New York Metro Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association. Every year, these officials vote on which coaches have displayed the greatest amount of sportsmanship during the college season.

York College coach Linval Cunningham received the Doc Feld Award for displaying the greatest amount of sportsmanship among 4-year men’s college soccer programs. He was honored at the NYMISOA Awards Dinner at the Sterling in Bethpage, N.Y. on Nov. 14.

“I officiated York at home against Lehman this season in a CUNY game,” NYMISOA vice president Randy Vogt said before giving out the Sportsmanship Award. “Lehman won the game, 2-1, in overtime on two close but correct referee decisions –– a penalty kick at the end of the second half and a breakaway in overtime that was just onside. Nobody from York on the field or on the bench dissented from any officiating decisions in what was a very nice game. Thank you, coach Linval Cunningham!”

“I have been coaching at York for 11 years,” Cunningham said. “I have won awards, my team has won the CUNY championship three times, we have been in the NCAA playoffs but receiving this Sportsmanship Award means the most to me.

“I probably would not have won this award five years ago but my ideas about the game have changed. I realized that my players take after the coaches and I needed to build their character so I tell them that win or lose, it’s just a game, it’s just a game."

York became the third CUNYAC men’s program to win this prestigious award after Medgar Evers in 2006 and CCNY in 2009.