Plainview, NY (August 31, 2009) – The Rough Riders, Long Island’s premier soccer franchise, is proud to announce their exciting new Passport-to-Play program for the Junior Rough Riders.

Passport-to-Play is a series of soccer trips designed specifically for each age group in the Junior Rough Riders program. Starting at the age of 9-years old Junior Rough Riders teams will combine the experiences of traveling and playing against the best soccer clubs both domestically and internationally.

“The Passport-to-Play program is intended to expose players to diverse soccer playing and training experiences while having them also benefit from traveling and learning about different cultures,” said Rough Riders General Manager, Flavio Ferri.

In addition to attending prestigious regional tournaments, Junior Rough Riders teams will expand their travels to new destinations such as Canada, Europe and South America.

“At the earlier ages we intended to arrange specific soccer trips closer to Long Island. As teams get older we will travel more extensively, building up lifelong experiences at every age group,” said John Diffley, Rough Riders Coaching Director.

Apart from enjoying the benefits of traveling and playing in competitive tournaments and games, the Passport-to-Play program will focus on player exposure both for colleges and also for international teams. Teams from under-14 and up will be provided to an extensive college network program which will allow players to meet college coaches and visit universities.

“The Junior Rough Riders program is about developing players and bringing them to the next level as shown by Mike Grella, former Junior Rough Riders and Rough Riders Men’s team player. Mike recently signed a three year agreement with Leeds United in England,” said Shaun Higgins, Junior Rough Riders Technical Director.

The Pass-to-Play program will further expand the Rough Riders network with professional soccer clubs in Europe and South America. Travel plans will be outlined at the Rough Riders Orientation Meeting on October 7th upon the completion of the 2009-2010 Junior Rough Riders tryouts in September.

The Passport-to-Play program will be open to all Junior Rough Riders players. To register for Junior Rough Riders tryouts in September visit http://www.liroughriders.com/juniors/tryouts.

For additional information on the Junior Rough riders Passport-to-Play program please email shiggins@liroughriders.com or contact the Rough Riders Office at 516.622.3900.