NPSL in the Community: American Soccer Club New York Makes an Impact On and Off the Pitch
By Michael Lewis/NPSL.com
When Jim Kilmeade created the American Soccer Club New York along with Kevin Reardon, he promised himself that the organization would be a community team.
That wouldn’t just be working with youth soccer clubs in the Long Island Junior Soccer League, but also with charities and special causes beyond his National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) team.
While ASCNY failed its quest to qualify for the playoffs in its expansion season, the club turned into winners off the pitch.
The Tomcats’ search for the proper causes to champion started prior to the NPSL season.
Two of the beneficiaries of the Fighting Tomcats were ALS Ride For Life and the William Desroches Foundation.
“I believe we have to have a major community presence that’s 12 months a year and goes beyond our season,” said Kilmeade, the team’s managing director and general manager. “It has nothing to do with how many wins or loses we have. So that was number one. I looked at probably the best charity I’ve ever heard of or seen, and I believe it is Tunnel To Towers. We began speaking to those guys, although they don’t really need much more exposure, I just felt they represented everything that I felt was really good; 99 percent of everything went to the cause.”
But when one door was ready to close, another opened, thanks to Thomas Fraehmke of New Providence, NJ.
“When he first heard about the club announcing around the New Year’s 2025,” Kilmeade said. “He just offered to be involved as a volunteer to help us. I said, ‘Thomas, we need great people around us, on and off the field. It would be great.’ “
What started as a casual conversation about soccer and the club morphed into a conversation about Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), which is probably known to the general public as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Fraehmke’s wife, Marlene, suffered from ALS for several years before she passed away at the age of 49 in 2014.
Thomas Fraehmke became an advocate for finding a cure for ALS. He did fundraising, walks, worked with ALS Ride For Life, promoted the cause at golf outings. He also started a website and attended as many soccer events, including the New York Red Bulls, Sky Blue FC (now Gotham FC), and the New York Cosmos, so he could find ways to educate the sporting public.
Partnering with his son Christian, Fraehmke decided to use soccer to fight ALS. He worked Red Bulls games, including one of the team’s supporters’ clubs with the slogan, KICK ALS!
He took it to another level.
“The idea is that everyone who comes into the game, everyone gets a red card, and then at a specific minute, we stand up and we show ASL the red card,” Fraehmke said. “Show racism the red card is where I saw it, and I just kind of adapted it to ALS.”
Fraehmke met former Jamaican international defender Barrington Gaynor, who suffered from ALS. He ran a fundraiser at a Red Bulls match, as half the money raised went to the player. Gaynor passed away at the age of 45 in 2011.
Fraehmke eventually became involved with ALS Ride for Life, a charity organization that raises research funds to find a cure for ALS, supports patients and families, and raises public awareness about the disease.
Kilmeade was invited by Fraehmke to attend an ALS Ride For Life dinner at Larkfield Manor in East Northport, NY. To say it was an emotional night for the Fighting Tomcats executive would have been an understatement.
“I sat in that room for two hours, and I was so moved, pretty much emotionally destroyed, pretty much drained,” he said. “But I walked out of there saying that we should be able to do something here. I didn’t realize how many people are affected by it on Long Island.”
Fraehmke introduced Kilmeade to several people, including the organization’s executive director, Marilyn Sloan, and Paul Weisman, a huge Liverpool fan who suffers from ALS.
“Without thinking, I went to shake his hand and realized he can’t even move his arm,” Kilmeade said. “Then Tom broke the ice, said, ‘Listen, Jim, people have ALS and you want to shake their hand, you just pick up their hand and shake it.’ That’s what I did. So, Paul and I became acquaintances and friends right there. We stay in touch all the time.”
Kilmeade was concerned that being a new club with limited resources the Fighting Tomcats had would not be able to do enough for ALS Ride For Life.
“Who are we to be able to do something for this big organization?” he said, adding that Fraehmke told him that “it doesn’t matter, Jimmy. It’s raising awareness. It doesn’t have to be about money. We made a commitment.”
The May 31 match became ALS Ride For Life Awareness Night. Every spectator received a Give a Red Card to ALS card as they entered the Hofstra University Stadium in Hempstead, NY as they held up the card during the 27th minute.
Weisman, who has suffered with ALS for 12 years, attended the game and spoke about the disease at halftime.
“This is great that I’m here, but it’s about all the other ALS warriors, the ones that couldn’t be here for other reasons,” Weisman said. “And I’m here to represent them. I’ve always said that I will be a voice for those who don’t have a voice anymore.”
Kilmeade said that Weisman “is an incredible spokesman for people.”
The Fighting Tomcats also held a fundraising raffle. The winner was announced at halftime, receiving an autographed A.C. Milan jersey by U.S. Men’s National Team star Christian Pulisic, and another signed by the Tomcats squad.
The Pulisic jersey came from Jim Vogt, who owns a printing company, Coral Company. Kilmeade called Vogt the team’s “greatest ambassador. He is unbelievable and is the ultimate soccer man.”
“Jim also lost his mom to ALS,” Kilmeade added. “When he heard what we were doing, he said ‘Well, let me know how I can help.’ He said he had the ability to get signed jerseys from top players on the planet. He offered to print up the Give a Red Card to ALS cards as a donation to the event.”
Mother Nature certainly helped with a perfect summer evening.
“I knew we were doing something that was worthwhile,” Kilmeade said. “If it could benefit even one person if we made awareness. Doing a good night for a charity or for a sponsor, no matter how great your plans are, it can be one bad night of weather to wipe out your whole program. Well, the higher power gave us peace and good weather that night.”
In the team’s final home game on Fan Appreciation Night on July 5, ASCNY championed its latest partner, the William Desroches Foundation. The Fighting Tomcats are helping William Desroches’ legacy by helping fund the construction of a synthetic turf soccer and lacrosse field in his name at Forest Lake Elementary School in Wantagh, NY.
Desroches passed away at the age of 15 in a boating accident in New Hampshire on Aug. 6, 2023. In his memory, family and friends established the William Desroches Foundation in 2024 to celebrate the teenager’s passion for youth sports and his dedication to building strong communities.
“This partnership brings together two organizations driven by a shared vision of community, youth development, and a love of the game,” said Don Desroches, founder of the William Desroches Foundation. “We’re thrilled to work with the American Soccer Club New York to help make the new field at Forest Lake a reality.”
Kilmeade has been involved with building artificial turf fields for decades.
“I’m trying to put my two professions and field and building and club building together to help this foundation,” he said. “We will be working year-round with his father, Don and William Desroches Foundation to raise money for pretty much a million dollars.”
The Tomcats also will support the foundation’s fundraising efforts through joint events, community outreach, and enhanced visibility at matches and public engagements, Kilmeade stated.
“We’re honored to partner with the William Desroches Foundation and contribute to such an important cause,” he added. “Building a field where kids can play, learn, and grow is exactly the kind of impact we want to have.”
With the experience of an inaugural season under their belt, the Fighting Tomcats hope to accomplish more in 2026 by partnering with or sponsoring a charitable organization for every home game.
“We will have from five to seven home games where we have a local charitable partner that we can work with to make a difference on the island for every game next year,” Kilmeade said. “We agreed that we’re going to do it every year. I think it’s one of the major highlights of the season for me, personally, for the whole organization.”
Kilmeade corrected himself.
“It is the best thing we did,” he said.
Photo Credit: Terry Uhlendahl/American Soccer Club New York
