THE LONG ISLAND ELITE NATIONAL TEAM
GORDON HEIGHTS C.P.A.
THE BEST PLAYERS IN LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK TRAVEL TO PLAY THE BEST TEAMS IN AMERICA.
INCLUDES A FULL FALL SEASON AND CALENDAR YEAR OF EVENTS

THIS PRESTIGIOUS INVITE-ONLY TEAM REQUIRES TRYOUTS..

Gordon Heights players try out free! 

See Frequently Asked Questions for more detailed answers to questions.

The Long Island Elite National Team program (LIE495) in collaboration with Gordon Heights C.P.A. offers an unprecedented travel program for young football players ranging in age from 7 years to 14 years old. They travel to play the best teams in the country. Tryouts are required for these teams. These are special all-star teams chosen to represent Long Island in national competitions. The year-long schedule of events for the LIE National team varies from year-to-year depending on a number of considerations.

 

This is not a recreation program. The LIE495 schedule demands priority over other sports and commitments except for school, religion, and family matters. The work is hard, travel is required for practice and for games, and our pricing structure is similar to the top travel lacrosse and soccer programs in the region. Coaches are former Division I, NFL players, High School coaches, and top youth coaches.

 

New York, while well known for being a producer of Division I Lacrosse talent, has never been a football powerhouse. Much of this has to do with a long-established culture of entitlement, and a lack of knowledge and football resources available to youth players when compared to the powerhouse football states.

The Long Island Elite National Team program provides an opportunity to passionate young football players and their families, to participate in a program that mimics the top youth football programs in Texas, Florida, Georgia, California, and the other football hotbeds of the country.

LIE495 does not endorse a full-year of hitting. The program, like the other top programs around the country runs year-round with a mix of clinics, drills, and variable contact levels.

LIE495 is nothing like your PAL or local recreation program. The recreation programs are great, they serve a purpose and get lots of kids of all abilities out for fall football, but that is not what this program is about. Players are encouraged to be multi-sport athletes, especially at the younger ages, but the truth is that the players and families in the LIE495 program overwhelmingly choose football over all other sports. This is their home.

LIE495 has none of the social distractions, gossip, daddy-ball and drama so prevalent on the sidelines of other youth leagues. Players, coaches, and their families are like-minded individuals cut from the same cloth! Where else will you find families willing to travel sometimes an hour outside of their town for practice. There are kids from as far as the Bronx that travel to games all over the country, practice in sometimes 30 degree weather, and incur the financial burdens associated with a travel program.

The Long Island Elite National Team program is a demanding program consisting of on-field skill development and off-field education to prepare kids to play at the highest level of high school and college football. It is obsessive, demanding, competitive, and requires a travel commitment for practice and for games.

The success of the program speaks for itself. LIE495 has a robust alumni list of Division 1 players that have received college scholarship offers and played in the ACC, BIG TEN, BIG12, and SEC. Rino Monteforte, an alum from Massapequa played for Notre Dame in the national championship. LIE495 produced two players who played as freshman in the BIG TEN, and the highest recruited player to ever come out of New York, a player who had 8 Division 1 offers as an 8th grader.

Dozens of past players are playing Division 2, and 3. Every player’s ceiling is different. The number one goal has always been and will continue to be to develop players and prepare them to play at their individual peak. LIE495 educates players and their families on the all of the nuances of their recruiting and NIL journey. No one does this better than Long Island Elite. 

THE ELITE NATIONAL TEAM SCHEDULE:

FALL:

Calendar year starts around July 15th with our opening day season kickoff for Fall and the new teams.

Fall practice begins.

 

Practice is usually Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings.

 

Most of the practices are held in Medford, but sometimes in Northport, Oyster Bay, Seaford, St Anthony’s, or St John the Baptist.

 

July 26 “Back the Heroes Tailgate & Showcase” Players and their families buy tickets for this event at the Nassau Coliseum. Players, Coaches, and families are allowed to tailgate all day long. Our teams will play Arena style football games in the Coliseum against Brooklyn, and the day culminates with tickets to the FDNY-NYPD game followed by the Dragon’s professional game. It’s a FULL DAY OF FOOTBALL!

 

Fall games begin late August or early September.

 

LIE495 is in the Big Tri-State Football League. It is by far the most competitive league in the region with the best teams, and it is run by football people, not administrators, daddies, or egomaniacs. This long standing league attracts the best managed organizations in the area and requires all programs to be run by a professional code of conduct.

 

Fall season play is approximately 6 to 8 games on an independent schedule in BTS against some of the best teams in the Northeast. Nearly all of our games are within an hour or two drive against mostly New Jersey opponents. Some teams may be given an option to play a national game that requires travel and overnight in upstate New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Delaware, or Vermont.

 

Fall season play typically ends in late October, early November and there is a short break.

 

WINTER:

Winter practice starts mid-November.

 

The annual Turkey Bowl is the weekend of Thanksgiving.

Practice continues.

 

Media Day, our big press event for players, happens in December.

 

The teams travel for a National Bowl game which is usually in December or early January (for the past 5 years we have gone to the New Year’s Bowl which runs alongside the NBC Sports/Navy High School Combine and All-Star game in San Antonio, Texas. In the past teams have also gone to Texas, Virgina, Delaware, Maryland, Georgia, and a number of other football hotbeds across the country.

 

After the National Bowl Game there is a dead period which usually lasts until March.

 

SPRING:

Practice resumes in March in preparation for the Shamrock Showcase

 

The Shamrock Showcase is in Virginia and usually around St Patrick’s day weekend.

 

Spring camp season, which is purely developmental, starts in mid-March and lasts until about May.

 

Spring Camp season is included in the registration fee for Elite National Team players and is also open to outside players.

 

The first round of invites goes out to players for the new upcoming season around May 1st.

 

Our oldest team usually travels in May to the highly competitive Memorial Day Classic in Maryland.

 

The Gold Coast game is usually in mid-May at home for our younger teams.

 

Tryouts begin for the new upcoming season which starts July 15th.

 

There might be a short break.

 

Practice resumes a couple weeks before The Liberty Challenge.

 

The Liberty challenge is the last event for the Elite National Team and usually happens in mid to late June or early July. In the past the event has been held at Columbia University and LIU.

 

*Exact dates and events on our calendar are tentative and may be updated with new or eliminated activities depending on a number of circumstances.

MORE PROGRAM NOTES

Tryouts for the team happen all year-round depending on the position needs for each team. If you are invited to the team after the season has commenced, you will pay a pro-rated fee.

 

The non-refundable tryout fee is $100 and includes participation in all tryouts and the top coaching in the Northeast.

 

The cost of the Long Island Elite National Team will be furnished in your invite email if you make the team. Registration includes premium SEC style uniforms and player packages, a full-calendar year of a spring and fall season and bowl games, top coaching, all practices and scrimmages, recruiting and NIL meetings, and Branding, Ethics, Academics, Social Media, and Time-Management mentoring.

Players must provide their own helmet and shoulder pads. Other items needed are cleats, a mouthpiece, and safety cup. Every year Long Island Elite Football accommodates dozens of less fortunate children in the community through it’s need-based scholarship program allowing them to participate in a first-class program that produces the best high school and college players. 
*If you live in the Hamlet of Gordon Heights tryouts are free. If you make the team and get invited, you will receive a discounted rate. You must provide a driver’s license or utility bill for address verification during registration.

Over the years our need based assistance has covered players in the community from homeless shelters, foster care, single parent families on public assistance, and other extenuating hardships. A need based hardship application is available for those in need of financial assistance. 

COACHING AND TEAM MANAGER APPLICATIONS ARE ACCEPTED YEAR-ROUND FOR ALL TEAMS. OUR TEAM MANAGERS FULFILL AN IMPORTANT ROLE AND DUTIES FOR THE TEAM, THEY ARE NOT JUST HANDING OUT CUPCAKES AND ORANGE SLICES. TEAM MANAGERS ARE INCLUDED IN COACHING MEETINGS AND ALL COMPANY AFFAIRS. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN COACHING, BECOMING A TEAM MANAGER, OR VOLUNTEERING; APPLY USING THE BUTTON AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE.

TRYOUTS: 

Gordon Heights players try out free! 

All current players must attend every tryout. It is mandatory.

New players should attend every tryout for maximum consideration. 

There are two types of tryouts: group tryouts and private tryouts. Group tryouts are announced periodically throughout the year. They are typically listed here, and on our social media accounts. In addition to the group tryouts, you can register for tryouts any time of year and a coach will call you to invite you to some practices to try out and be evaluated to see if you make the team. You must pay and register online whether you are doing a group tryout or private tryout, no exceptions. If you make the team you will receive an invite to the elite national team via email.

*Very important. The practice and group tryout schedule below may change! This is your forewarning to please check your email, texts, and social media for last minute changes before you walk out the door on the day of tryouts/practice so that you don’t show up to the wrong field or on a date that has been cancelled. **CHECK INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, TEAMSNAP, AND EMAIL FOR LIVE UPDATES AND LAST MINUTE SCHEDULE CHANGES ON THE DAY OF**

UPCOMING GROUP TRYOUT DATES
*All tryouts are helmets and full-equipment.
*Tryout fee is $100 and allows you to attend all dates for one price.
*Spring players, and Gordon Heights players are free. These will be verified with Spring rosters. For Gordon Heights residents you must present a copy of your driver’s license or utility bill in your name. Spring registrants and Gordon Heights registrants received that don’t comply with these guidelines will be deleted. 

TUESDAY MAY 6:  7:00pm – 9:00pm | Granny Rd Field, 617 Granny Rd, Medford

THURSDAY MAY 15:  6:00pm – 9:30pm | Tryouts/Movie Night/Open House | Granny Rd Field, 617 Granny Rd, Medford [get more details]

MONDAY MAY 19:  7:00pm – 9:00pm | St Anthony’s High School, 275 Wolf Hill Rd, South Huntingon

TUESDAY MAY 27:  7:00pm – 9:00pm | Granny Rd Field, 617 Granny Rd, Medford

WEDNESDAY JUNE 11:  7:00pm – 9:00pm | St Anthony’s High School, 275 Wolf Hill Rd, South Huntingon

TUESDAY JUNE 24:  7:00pm – 9:00pm | Granny Rd Field, 617 Granny Rd, Medford

SUNDAY JUNE 29:  9:00am – 11:00am | St John the Baptist HS, 1170 Montauk Highway, West Islip

TUESDAY JULY 8:  7:00pm – 9:00pm | Granny Rd Field, 617 Granny Rd, Medford

THURSDAY JULY 10:  7:00pm – 9:00pm | Granny Rd Field, 617 Granny Rd, Medford

SATURDAY JULY 12:  9:00am – 11:00am | Granny Rd Field, 617 Granny Rd, Medford

TUESDAY JULY 15: OFFICIAL OPENING DAY KICKOFF
1ST PRACTICE FOR ALL PLAYERS THAT MADE THE 2025-26 ELITE NATIONAL TEAM!
7:00pm – 9:00pm | Granny Rd Field, 617 Granny Rd, Medford

*CURRENT PLAYERS MUST ATTEND EVERY TRYOUT.
*NEW PLAYERS SHOULD ATTEND EVERY TRYOUT FOR MAXIMUM CONSIDERATION.

 

See the other teams that are part of the Long Island Elite program.

See Frequently Asked Questions for more detailed answers to questions.

We cannot consider anyone for a team that has not filled out the online registration form and paid the tryout fee. It does not matter who you know, who you spoke with, if you were on a team last year, or how many tryouts you attended. If you don’t fill out the online registration and pay the fee you won’t be considered for a team because we will have no record of you in our system.

Your online registration is reconciled and matched up with the data from tryouts that coaches look at. This is an extremely tedious job that cannot be done by our volunteers without the online forms to streamline the process. Everyone must complete the online registration form and pay the tryout fee.

Hundreds of players will be evaluated based on the data that was collected at tryouts, observations, coaching recommendations, and any film that was sent in.