Our 12th Captain of the Match, Joey Lafyatis!

Joey moved to New York ten years ago for work and like many before him accidentally fell in love with the city.

A fan of NYCFC since Patrick Vieria was the coach (they are both French), Joey and his partner now go to as many NYCFC games as possible.

Joey and his partner live together in Bedstuy with their dog, Freddie, where they spend their time cultivating a garden, biking the city's neighborhoods, and keeping Freddie out of trouble.

One of the highlights of Joey's week is when he gets to escape his apartment to play soccer with NYC Footy.

Joey started playing with Footy as a free agent a few years ago, using it as a way to explore new parks and parts of the city, as well as to meet new people.

Eventually, he decided to put a little extra work in and become a captain, bringing together people he had met throughout the years. 

Joey focuses on building a social dynamic within the team that creates positive outcomes on and off the pitch, and does that by actively fostering an environment of inclusion and respect amongst the players.

In his own words:

"We all come from different backgrounds, we have different levels of competitiveness and extraversion, and sometimes we are either having a good day we want to bring to the team or a bad day we want to leave behind.

We all deserve to be fully welcomed every time into this group of friends: to be given equal playing time, to be picked up when we're down, and to celebrate our successes on the field and in our lives.

That type of culture flourishes with the active awareness, participation, and facilitation of a captain."

A truly beautiful sentiment, and one we couldn't have said better.

Thank you Captain Joey!