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By Tom Kelly A former Mayo football 'great' has been publicly acknowledged for his contribution to the development of the game in America. Peter Collins, a native of Westport, was honoured for his services to the Long Island Junior Soccer League, New York, over a period of 20 years. Mr. Collins, an uncle of the RTE sports presenter of the same name, won a Connaught Cup medal with Castlebar Celtic in 1955 before emigrating to America. He became involved in the Long Island Junior Soccer League shortly after its foundation in 1966 and was appointed president of the organisation in 1977, a position he has held since then. Over 300 people turned out at the Brookville Country Club, Long Island, to mark his 20th anniversary as president of the league. Under his guidance, it became the largest league of its type in the United States with over 90 clubs affiliated. One of his finest achievements in office was the creation of the Long Island Soccer Park. Soccer dignitaries and personalities came from afar to honour Collins and pay glowing tributes to him. Lynn Berling-Manuel, the publisher of Soccer America, said Collins brought out qualities in people that they did not see in themselves. "He makes thing real every day. The Long Island Junior Soccer League has had an unique and special impact over the past 20 years. There is one reason for that - Peter Collins. Richard Nuttall, a leading American youth coach, said he could not imagine a more forceful and honest advocate of the great game of soccer than Peter Collins. Larry Peshkin, a member of the league's board of directors, said he recently travelled with Collins to visit Old Trafford, Manchester, and saw another side of him. "We were with the Manchester United team and Peter was treated like royalty." Michael Lewis, editor of Soccer New York, faxed a special message to Collins. It read: "Peter has always been a class act as league president and more importantly as a person, giving time to the sport he deeply loves and the children he cherishes." INSPIRATIONAL FIGURE President Bill Clinton sent a congratulatory note. "America's strength as a nation is through voluntarism," he said. Peter and his wife, Annie (nee McCabe, a native of MacHale Road, Castlebar, and a former member of the staff of the Connaught Telegraph), were presented with all-expenses paid trips to Ireland and to Hawaii, the site of the U.S. Soccer Federation's annual general meeting later this year. In his short address, Peter thanked his family and friends for their support over the years. "Win or lose, we must enjoy this game," he added. Peter Collins is fondly remembered in Mayo and is a regular visitor to his native county. He was the inspirational figure behind the staging of the Liberty Cup competition in Milebush, Castlebar, in 1992, when six clubs from the Long Island Soccer League participated in a major competition in Mayo. He is a brother of Michael Collins, the Quay, Westport, and the late Pat Collins, Brize, Claremorris. Other members of his family include his sister, Marie, who lives in the U.S. He is an uncle of Peter Collins, chairman of Manulla Football Club.
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