Founding Father of Massapequa Soccer Club

It was a fitting weekend to honor William "Pat" McComiskey, the father of the Massapequa soccer club.

The club held its 37th annual Father's Day intramural soccer tournament this weekend , an event that will from now on be named after McComiskey.  

"It means the world to me," said McComiskey's daughter, Maureen Burczyk, who attended a ceremony honoring her father Saturday. "He loved soccer, he loved working with the youth of Massapequa. This club was his baby."

McComiskey passed away in 2009 at the age of 93.

He helped start the club in 1970 after working with a small CYO team, according to Burczyk. "Soccer wasn't very popular then," she said."People asked, 'You're going to do what?  While wearing shorts?' "

McComiskey was forced to recruit players by asking football coaches to recommend players they had cut.  "But within a few years, they were asking him for players." 

Soccer exploded on Long Island and the area became a hot spot for the sport's explosion in the U.S.  But despite the success, McComiskey was dedicated to bringing the sport to everyone.

"He wanted everybody to play," said Fox News personality Brian Kilmeade. "He's the only guy I know who always wanted to coach the "B" and "C" teams when everyone else wanted to coach the "A" teams."

Kilmeade, who played soccer locally, suggested that naming the Father's Day Intramural Tournament, after McComiskey, who was also a family friend.

"After my father died  he would come to my house every day to make sure my brothers and I weren't screwing up," Kilmeade said.

Born in Belfast, Ireland, he learned to play the game there before serving in the British Royal Air Force. It was there that he was given the nickname "Pat" which he was labeled with because of his Irish heritage. In addition to being the first president of the Massapequa Soccer Club, McComiskey was also instrumental in the rise of the Long Island Junior Soccer League, and was elected to their Hall of Fame in 2005.  

"There was never a time when he wasn't happy to talk about soccer and his soccer club. He was proudest of the time he spent with those young kids," Burczyk said.