Volo Sports NYC Soccer League at Sternberg Park is a Total Scam!! Avoid at All Costs and Start Your Own League Instead. If you're considering soccer at Sternberg Park, save your money and start your own amateur league. You won't be wasting $150+ per person for Goals that blow away in the wind Fields marked by crooked plastic cones A referee who doesn't move and can't see the game An automated phone line that never connects you to a person "Weather updates" that are completely inaccurate A league that lets certain players jump from team to team A referee who plays favorites and dismisses legitimate complaints based on your accent. If you're considering signing up for Volo Sports NYC's Sternberg Park soccer league, DON'T. It's a rip off, a disorganised mess, and borderline corrupt. Our team showed up to play one night only to find the field covered in snow. Despite this, we were ready to play. The Volo referee and rep on-site told us it was too dangerous and the game was rescheduled. We did not refuse to play we were sent home. A few days later, Volo dug themselves into a hole by claiming our team "chose not to play" and that all games had gone ahead as scheduled. This was either a blatant lie or something even worse the referee deliberately sent us home while allowing other games to go ahead. We also raised concerns about the referee's ongoing bias against our team, especially after he made comments about our accents. This was completely ignored in Volo's responses, they outright refused to even address it. Volo's customer service is beyond useless. Their phone line is fully automated, forcing you to press option after option only to end up in a loop with no way to speak to a human. The weather hotline was also completely wrong, claiming all games were going ahead despite the fact that their own staff told us not to play. It took multiple emails for them to finally admit their mistake and reschedule the game. Instead of owning up immediately, they tried to gaslight, dismiss, and blame us. The volo rep is a nice guy, but the referee, an absolute disgrace. From the start, he had it out for us, making dismissive comments, telling us to "calm down" and shut up if we made loud calls to our own players in game. Other teams roster manipulation was a regular occurrence. Despite Volo doing a roll call before each game, the ref encouraged teams to bring in ringers and some of his own friends while acting like we were the problem for playing competitively. The second anyone points out that it's possible he may not be able to see everything by standing in one place you get threatened with a yellow card. I regularly come home with ankle cuts and bloody knees from other teams player but the referee claimed our team calls foul when any sort of physical tackle is made, it's a contact sport, the game is gone. Instead of rewarding teams that show up with full rosters, they create an environment where teams are better off showing up short handed so they can get a "ref approved" ringer subbed in. It's an absolute farce. Despite the referee's blatant attempts to stop us from making the playoffs, WE STILL DID. That's how much of a joke this league is even when they tried to manipulate the season against us, we still made it. Volo Sports NYC is not just overpriced, it's a scam. They take your money, deliver a subpar, borderline rigged experience, and then try to gaslight their own paying customers when called out. The lack of integrity, fairness, and basic customer service is shocking. One of the so called "perks" of the league is discounts at a bar. Except the bar is a mile away from the field, and the discount is literally just $1 off after you pay full price first. That's not a benefit, that's an insult. If you're looking for a well run, professional, and fair soccer league in NYC look elsewhere. I give them 1 star only because their volleyball league is pretty awesome and I'm happy to admit it. read more

I had positive experiences when they were NYC Social however since rebranding to Volo Sports I felt the service has dropped off significantly. I signed up for a Pickleball league in February 2024 to start in May however the league we were notified three times (April 10, April 26th and May 7th) that the league would be delayed and as a result, I can only attend half the games now. I never agreed to the schedule change and they refuse to refund my registration fees. read more

Terrible customer service, terrible communication, not worth the money. They put my soccer team in a warehouse instead of a field with no goals, just tape on the walls! read more

I had a negative experience with Volo Sports (NYC Socials' new name) and do NOT recommend it to anyone looking for a recreational sports league. Volo Sports hosted a pickleball league that my friends and I were very excited to join, and having joined other leagues we were optimistic about having a great time. Upon arrival, we found the courts to be uneven, and extremely close together to the point we made physical contact with another team on other courts. On top of this, there were physical obstructions right next to the court. Moreover, there was a large around 2 feet across pole that our team needed to actively avoid in order to not hit. Needless to say, we found this to not be a fun experience, and extremely unsafe. We stopped going and when contacted customer service, they dismissed our concerns about our safety and are refusing to work with us to get a refund. I don't trust Volo Sports to host a league I want to play in the future. Please do yourself a favor and go with Zogsports if you want to play recreational sports. read more

I joined the pickleball League this season and they had to delay starting to a week later because of issues with the courts. Volo also changed the start time of the games from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. without asking if participants still wanted to be part of the league. I showed up today for the first day of the league and the courts were not set up properly. I was told from another volo member that they had gotten 15 minutes earlier than our start time and the previous group of players hadn't even started. Today was supposed to be just a fun day since the courts were messed up. One team of four players took over two courts. I asked one of the staff members there if we could ask them to stay within their team and just rotate in so that other people could play too. When I asked if I should approach the players or if they would approach their players she rolled her eyes and said it's not that serious. This is the first day of the league. I don't know people and I don't want to escalate a situation when I imagine people aren't happy with how volo messed up. Very unhelpful and just unnecessary read more

Fraudulent company, do not sign up! They cancelled my volleyball league without explanation and refused to return any money or provide a credit. I played in one of their softball leagues last year and should have known better based on the level of disorganization and remarkably poor quality of the referees. You're better off with any of the other myriad leagues available. read more

Have had bad experiences lately with NYC Social soccer league where they never got us our team shirts which they promised every week.... so it was grey vs grey on the field, and the ref wore grey too! lol. Every week. Ref refused to change his shirt and no one knew who was on their team on the pitch, referee got several passes lol I asked league for a refund without any response. They also require huge roster sizes, minimum of 15 players for 9v9, that's 6 subs! Other leagues only require 2-3 subs. NYC social does this to maximize revenue but it minimized our playtime. read more

About to play my final game of kickball of the first summer session. NYCSSC is pretty well organized. You can either sign up with a team or as individual. I did the latter and was pleased with how friendly my teammates were -- a few of them had played previous seasons but a few were "randoms" like m. I also like that you get to pick which night you play and game times range from 6:15 till 7:45PM. There are four games going on simultaneously at two courts, with one ref officiating each game. The courts are located in the Lower East Side, accessible by transportation but secluded enough that stray balls don't hit *too* many passers-by. Also a problem with outdoor courts is that you are limited by the weather. If it rains, you either have to suck it up and play or the games are postponed. We played one game through the rain slipping and sliding about and then another week we show up after the storms were over and the sun was shining and hear that the games were cancelled. Kind of a bummer to have the announcement emailed out at 5:45 when our game started at 6:15...wish we had more notice so I wouldn't have trekked all the way down to the courts but we made it to the bars for some flip cup anyway -- apparently half the other teams didn't get the memo either. Docking a star for this, although it probably was an isolated incident. After the brisk 45 minute game, you're off to the bar to socialize with your teammates and other teams as well. They added a second sponsor bar so if one spot is crowded, you can walk two doors down to the next bar. Good beer specials but I'm not sure how the pizza is distributed. Sometimes we got some, sometimes we didn't, but hey, it's free pizza so what can you expect. Beer games are a must at these bars -- it's kind of like Part Two of the night. Games on the court and games in the bar. Flip cup seems to be common but I've seen beer pong as well. A nice way to socialize while keeping the team spirit going (especially since all of us are still in our bright t-shirts). I would recommend NYCSSC to anyone looking to meet new people and spend some time outdoors. read more

I've only ever played in football leagues with Social (since 2012). Shout out to PJ and his crew for what they've done over the past couple of seasons, making Monday's a very unique and personalized experience for fellow players and myself. Customizing the medals to correlate with each season seems so simple in practice, but it really makes you feel like you are playing for something that not everyone is going to get every three months. On the field, he and the crew are ALWAYS hospitable and available for questions or concerns and that can't be said for every day-to-day interaction that we all have in life, let alone in our various paid adventures. But the camaraderie shown doesn't end on the field, that crew brings it to the bar creating a postgame atmosphere that allows you to be whichever social character that you want to be, whether you be introverted or extroverted. I will say the only thing stopping me from giving the league 5 stars is the silly rule in place where if the score is 6 points or fewer within 2 minutes, it's a pro clock, but if it's 7 or 8 (which is still a one-possession game), it's a running clock. read more

As a long-time member of NYC Social, I have become extremely disappointed with the league. In spite of NYC Social's mission statement that claims "to provide boutique customer service," customer service seems to have lost importance over the past year or so. NYC Social does not care about their players. One example of this is numerous last-minute cancellations due to inclement weather, a trend that has not improved since I first joined the league. I have shown up to the field many times and had games canceled 10 minutes before game time despite earlier forecasts of dangerous weather conditions. If player safety were a genuine concern for the league, cancellations would be made earlier to protect them. Because NYC Social provides their own referees for games, they had set themselves aside from other leagues, but the quality of the refereeing has declined over time. The influx of seemingly unqualified refs over the past year is bothersome. Paying a higher registration fee than other leagues only to have "officials" who do not know the rules isn't worth the money for any of the players. My biggest concern with NYC Social, however, is the way they communicate with their players. I have experienced correspondence first-hand that is completely unprofessional and inappropriate. Now that the season is over and my team is leaving the league, I would like to share a "peep" from an email exchange that I had with the New York Social's president. I have experienced poor service from NYC Social on more than one occasion, but in this case, the communication that followed my initial emails was shocking and unprofessional. I can only imagine that NYC Social's overall method of handling complaints is poor as a result of the trickle-down effect from its president. As for the exchange that I am unable to share share due to Yelp's length restrictions, I have included it as a link. To view the full exchange which I replaced names with titles paste the link below into your browser.I will preface the exchange in the link below is supporting documentation of NYC Social's inappropriate customer service from my previous review. I concede that my initial email to the league was harsh, and while I could have approached things a little differently, as a disgruntled customer and player I have every right to be upset. I also apologized for my initial tone in my final email, but was met with an even worse response. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10267059/ME.pdf I was particularly bothered by the NYC Social president's claim that I was "digging" around on the company website for the unfinalized spring schedule. If schedules are not final, it seems obvious that they should not be accessible on the website in any way. To imply that three clicks on the website is digging seems a bit rude, given the fact that I was a member of the league and the website is supposed to be a vehicle for league information. Also, it seems a bad business practice to discourage current and potential customers from clicking around on the website. What if during my digging I came across another sport that interested me? That could have meant more business for the league. Instead of just losing my business personally, NYC Social is losing a whole team who up until now were faithful players season after season. read more

Two stars is actually generous given how I feel about NYC Social, but I want to give credit to the limited handful of staffers and officials who do the best they can to keep things fun and organized. Given the circumstances, there are a few of the employees who just try to make do with the situation they are dealt. Despite their efforts, however, the league has lost all of my respect for several reasons, the most pressing being some particularly unprofessional and condescending correspondence from the president of the organization. EDIT 8/15/13: I'm knocking my review down to one star after seeing the flood of positive reviews, all written within a one-week span. Clearly the negative reviews are frustrating someone over there, and they put forth some campaign to certain players to help them boost their star rating. I realize some businesses do this kind of thing all of the time, but more and more players are going public with their grievances against NYC Social, and the league's only response is to try to get more positive Yelp reviews to balance out the bad rather than address all the issues customers have raised? Customer service is clearly of no import. I'm disgusted, and the rest of my review stands as is. I played flag football in NYC Social for over a year and initially really enjoyed being a part of the league. Their two-ref system was a big plus, since having the extra set of eyes seems an obvious benefit for the players, especially where fairness and safety are concerned. I did find it a little disconcerting that the fee was so high for only a 6-game season, and that each game is only 45 minutes long (18-minute halves), but I figured the trade-off for having two officials should balance things out. Unfortunately, over the past year, there has been a noticeable decline in refereeing quality. While I understand that missed/incorrect calls are just a part of the game, there is no excuse for an official to 1) not know the rules of the league, 2) act indifferent when any part of the game is confusing or out of control for the teams playing, and 3) give very little regard for player safety. They also have had a bad habit of waiting until last-minute to cancel games despite deplorable weather conditions being in the forecast all day, which several other people have already mentioned in their reviews. That complaint can be lumped in with the bigger concern that communication with the front office is often sub-par. I sent a very long email at the end of one season addressing the referee problems, asking that they at least talk to their referees about controlling the game better, and never got a single response. As a paying customer, who sometimes played on multiple teams a season, I found it really rude that I spent so much time composing that email, laying out my concerns without being unnecessarily hostile, and I didn't even receive a stock "Thank you for letting us know, we will do what we can" reply. As for the unprofessional and condescending correspondence with the head of the organization, it astounded me that someone who runs a business could speak to a customer in such a haughty and condescending tone, and even make threats to kick said customer out of the league if she made any more complaints. Such behavior is not that of someone who sees the players in a league as anything more than dollar signs, and I find that very disturbing. To pay to play in a league that is run by someone who sends hostile email replies that talk down to and threaten a customer, and who apparently does not even see customers as human beings nor feels it is important to treat them as such, is a very disheartening and deplorable experience. I've joked for some time that I am a ZogSports-lifer, but initially I was enjoying my side romp with NYC Social. Now, however, I've realized what a mistake the affair has been as the league doesn't really care about me, or anyone else for that matter. For the head of the entire company to be so contentious and rude and unprofessional speaks volumes about how unsafe it is to play in the league. People join NYC Social to play sports, meet people, and have a good time, but it's rather difficult to have a good time when the person running the league could not care less about customer service and making things better overall for the players. Be forewarned that should you join this league, it's likely any grievances you have will either be ignored or turned into a vitriolic tirade against you. You know that friend you have who really cannot take constructive criticism? That is NYC Social to a tee. He has some great qualities, and you guys even have fun together sometimes, but bring up anything remotely negative and you'll catch a really nasty attitude and a stubborn refusal to change. read more

YOU WONT BELIEVE WHAT GOES ON IN THIS LEAGUE. I've played soccer in this league for years. It wasn't until I dropped in on a friend's Gotham Soccer League game that I was able to see just how terrible this league is. When NYC Social refs do show up, which is rare, they are brand new, and they don't know the rules of the one of the most simple games on the face of the earth. Last week we played yet another ref-less game, in a semi final nonetheless, so naturally the competitive nature was high. We were left to call our own game, and late in the second half, I was tackled from behind by someone who should've already had been red-carded. I injured my wrist and neck when I fell. A bench-clearing brawl broke out, and not a soul was there to stop it. But wait there's more- I was ready to let bygones be bygones if the league were to reach out to us in an effort to retroactively rectify the situation, maybe with a refund or at least an apology but NYC Social couldn't care less. In an effort to reach out to the exec staff to make them aware of what happened, the NYC Social CEO, Amy Short told us to, "relax." I'm livid to say the least, and I don't know what else to do besides leave a crabby yelp review. PLEASE SPARE YOURSELVES and go with ZogSports, Gotham Soccer League, or literally any other option in the area for recreational sporting. read more

2 years ago, I would've never thought I would be writing this negative review. NYC Social, a casual, fun, co-ed recreational sports league has really taken a turn for the worse. I play in one of the soccer leagues and have been a member consistently over the past 2 years, playing every season they've had to offer, indoor - outdoor, all year round. My team and I have had exponentially growing complaints and issues with the league ranging from the reffing (or lack thereof), to the delayed games (due to staff arriving late), and general lack of customer service. We all PAY to play! The staff has had to 'ref' several of our games due to referees not showing up as scheduled, which have led to chaos to say the least. They come ill-prepared without enough equipment or extra whistles, thereby leaving them inadequately prepared to ref a game. Yesterday evening during our Mon/Thurs playoffs was a great example of why I personally will never play with NYC Social again. It was our semi-final game, and like clockwork, no ref for our 7:45 game. The competitiveness and lack of organization, led to our two teams arguing and outright brawling, due to having to make our own calls and downright dirty fouls that went uncalled by the staff. The staff that was there at the field was at a loss of what to do. They had to "call" the office to determine how they should handle the situation. The ref from the other game, came over, threw basically everyone out of the game (by giving red cards) and claimed to have saw the whole thing, while reffing another game. We pay a lot of money to play in this league, costs that have risen drastically by season, and my team has stood by this nonsense for season after season. We're a social group who just wants to be active, have fun and play soccer. Week after week, issue after issue it becomes more difficult to just have a game with no problems. I'd highly recommend playing in another league. read more

It's true.. they bribe people to leave good reviews... "People hate us on Yelp." "Have you ever had fun playing in our Leagues? Like, 4 or 5-star fun? Great! Please tell the world. Every positive Yelp review posted for NYC Social between now and November 30th will be rewarded with one free entry into our 4th Quarter Showdown Tournament." This along with their insanely aggressive marketing tactics are pathetic. NYC Social 85 Delancey New York, NY 10002 read more

TL: DR version - save your $135, play for another league, and buy yourself a new outfit. You'll feel better about yourself. Trust me. For those interested in details... I played for this league longer than most of their present office staff have been employed there. And although NYC Social was my one-stop shop for everything social sports related, it is far from being the company that once gained my loyalty and business. Equipment for sports are in poor condition. To rattle off a few examples - flag football belts have fasteners that are broken through, basketballs have no air and no pumps are provided on-site, and kickballs are stored in places too hot allowing them to deform and pimple which make for a painful kick. The officiating crew has declined in quality over the seasons as well. What made certain sports attractive to more competitive players was the quality of referees and game staff. Every season one less veteran ref. returns and their replacement is someone with little to no experience and knowledge of game rules. I'm sorry, but I can play a pick-up game for free. All of the facts aforementioned are subjective and one can argue that they can and should be overlooked for the sake of the fun of the game and bigger picture experience at hand. However, bad business practices should not be supported and the owner of NYC Social is the #1 offender/Public Enemy #1. Whether it is constructive, an innocent query, a suggestion, or a general observation, watch out because you are due for a very personal, harsh, and vindictive response from her. The fact that she feels entitled enough to mouth off at her customers the way she does shows that she is not worthy of anyone's business. She fails to understand that she is not doing anyone a favor by offering her services. In fact, we're doing her a favor by choosing her company over her competitors who consistently offer longer playing times and cheaper league fees. Let's not bite the hand that feeds us now. read more

If you are a dude-bro, an aging-high-school-sports-star or former sorority girl - this league is for you. If you are a person who isn't great at sports, but wants to be active, have fun, and meet a few people - move along. DO NOT JOIN. I joined kickball with a group of friends, a few of us athletically inclined, and we collectively had an awful time. Always. Awful. So you can't say "well you just didn't have fun b/c you didn't know anybody" because I did, or "your team just sucked" (which we did) because we were there for fun - not competition. It was just THAT bad of an experience. THIS LEAGUE IS EXTREMELY COMPETITIVE. YES, EVEN INTRAMURAL. and, AND - the "after party" bar is like a frat party on crack. $3 bud lite? NO. NO NO NO. All kinds of wrong. I didn't want to drink that shit when I was in college, I definitely don't want to drink it now. Piss water. And that's not even that good a price. BOTTOM LINE: save your 100bones, grab a group of friends & some tall boys, and go to the park for an afternoon. You'll have more fun, and probably get more exercise. read more

As an actual league: 5 stars! Fun time! But, today they just tried to BRIBE us for positive reviews on Yelp. They offered to give us free stuff if we sent a link to them about the positive review we left. Super scandalous! XD read more

Don't join this league!!! It's such a rip-off and not worth the money. We've had games cancelled after everyone had already gone down to the field. We've had to end games in the middle because they couldn't enforce their own field times. Every single time they reschedule games, it will be Friday night or on a holiday when no one wants to go. The refs are completely incompetent and very rude- they take their jobs way to seriously and are on a power trip for some reason. And the office will refuse to work with you on scheduling or anything else for that matter. I have been in this league and several others in NYC, this is by far the worst! read more

Don't join any of their leagues. Not only do all of their game setups not make sense (football games start and finish in less than 30 mins) but they are unorganized and have terrible customer service. We didn't get an email about the schedule until the night before the league starts and they don't respond to emails ever. If you actually get someone on the phone, they could care less about what you are asking for. Specifically for football, the league rules and setup is terrible. Do yourself and your team a favor and go join any other league. read more

NYC Social Sports has the worst customer service/safety precautions I've ever seen. Two years in a row we've had torrential downpours for our semi-final and final soccer games and it was a safety hazard to play in. The first year, one teammate BROKE HIS ANKLE in the semi-final game and they originally offered him a free season... As if he'd be playing in the near future? This year, we had terrible weather and I'm surprised none of my teammates have gotten pneumonia yet. We had to sit out in the rain after our 7:00pm game, while the 7:45pm game was played and wait for our Finals game. Of which we didn't play like ourselves because we were hesitating and falling everywhere, due to the rain and slippery turf. Absolutely miserable. After numerous second chances to change, I'm taking my team to another league. read more

I played on many teams with NYCSSC a few years ago. While those times were relatively positive due to having met great teammates, the site selections like gyms for V-ball or Dodgeball matches were unsatisfactory and the quality and consistency of refs were too variable. I left this company and joined another. Recently, I had a negative experience with NYCSSC. I was gifted two gift certificates worth $125 each. I registered on Saturday for a season that was to begin two business days later on the upcoming Tuesday. As directed on the certificate, I provided a note in the NOTES section explaining use of the vouchers to register me and my friend. I entered all my contact information, including my credit card information. CC information is required to register or else the page does not submit. ( I found out later that the 'Pay Later' button is blocked out and does not work, ever; thereby forcing one to enter a CC#) The 'Authorized Charge Payment' box is automatically pre-filled with an amount of $125.00. (I found out later that this number needs to change to $0.00 or else your money will be stolen by NYCSSC. ) Not only did I NOT receive a confirmation page using Chrome--I found out later the NYCSSC's site has an issue with this web browser; I was uncertain if my registration was processed at all. I called Monday and spoke with a Dave or David to verify that 1-the certificates were used & 2- the registration had been processed and my friend and I were placed on a team. I was placed on a team. My friend was not. I had been charged $125! The vouchers had not been used. (So what's purpose of having a NOTES section if its not going to read?) Dave told me payments are nonrefundable; That I should consider selling my voucher to someone else; That I could use the voucher in the future up to a year; That my $125 would not be refunded despite the charge having been 'pending' not 'processed' by my CC at that time. He refused to cancel the transaction why I asked or acknowledge the ambiguity presented by NYCSSC when registering with certificates. He sited it would be too much paper work and an inconvenience to them (the company) to refund back my money bc '...we just don't do that..." Again, why would I choose to pay $125 to join a team when I clearly noted that I had valid vouchers? So yes, I'm out of $125, patronizing an organization I left behind years ago for shoddy costumer service. Never again! Buyer beware. All sales are final. Call in to use your voucher. Change the authorized charge amount from $125 to $00.00 if you register online with a gift certificate. All in all, find a more honest and amiable business to support. Duplicitous practices= loss of your money. read more

I've been trying to get in contact with customer service to register our corporate team since last week, and the rep (Sarah Cho) informed me on the urgency to sign up and get everything squared away by Friday. I e-mailed her the following day letting her know that we have everything ready to sign up, but I have yet to hear from her. I e-mailed her Wednesday afternoon 10/5 and haven't heard from her since. I followed up with her Thursday 10/6, still no answer. I reached out to her yesterday 10/10, and still nothing. Now when we log in, it says that there are no more available slots to register as a team. Is this a joke? I've been reaching out to you guys for almost a week now, trying to call the customer service line, and you don't even have a voicemail set up. What is it going to take to get a response from you guys?! The organization is so disorganized, and I cannot believe that it's taking this long to get a simple response. I'd say stick with Zog because NYC Social definitely needs to get their stuff together. read more

NYC social is incredibly shady and difficult to deal with: First they gave away free seasons to many teams at the end of the the spring seasons of ITWP for bar champs, winners, etc. while this sounds awesome, it was not because as a result, they jacked up the cost of the sport for everyone to cover the lost revenue... Then they moved up the deadline to register for inner tube water polo two weeks and with little notice so people had not yet registered. That was probably because it got ridiculously expensive. They claimed low numbers and canceled the season but then continued to send emails about partial seasons for other sports. Then when we as a league tried to work with NYC social to bring it back and be flexible but they dodged out questions and gave non-committal answers. We held out going to another organization in the hopes water polo would be back. It's not. Finally, NYC social CHANGED the expiration date of our free season as to make us use it in the fall season, though there was no polo. Then they said end of the year, even though in writing we had they expired in May. Overall, the ITWP faithful have tried to work with the organization with no results. Many headaches. I'm so over NYC social. Ps. Thanks for the email reminding me to put in words my frustrations and let others know how shady you guys are..... Someone's getting fired.... read more

I have never been so disappointed with a rec sports league. Stay away from signing up for any of their sports, you'll be glad to save yourself the headache and aggravation. Their staff is unaccommodating and rude, they send out a half-assed schedule the day before Game 1, and sadly the game rules and regulations change based on how they see fit. They rush to get your games over and out as quickly as possible, even though you've already paid $20-30 per game to play. My friends and I will never sign up for this league again, and strongly recommend you stick with Zog Sports. This company is run by incompetent idiots. read more

This company is just awful. If Zog Sports had better locations, I would never consider doing a league through NYC SSC. The referees are completely incompetent and take their jobs way too seriously. In both the kickball and flag football leagues, I felt like I was playing at a professional level. One of our games was ended early because a player said "are you kidding me?" to the referee. Neither team understood why the game was ended, and after e-mailing the league office, they provided no explanation. In another league, our championship game was postponed because the league did not reserve the fields for enough time. Despite being a Thursday night league, the championship game was moved to the Sunday night of father's day. After asking for the game to be moved, we were informed that we would be forfeiting the championship if we did not play. It is very clear that NYC SSC cares only about getting your money and earning their percentage cut at the bar. You might as well not bother playing the games, because they are no fun. read more

This is my first season and I am only writing for the indoor volleyball. The only good thing about NYC Social is the people you meet on your team. Everything else about the way they do business is a joke. They obviously put all their effort into getting people to sign up and then say "F*** it!" after they have your money. First of all, they communicated nothing about when the actual season would start and end. On the website they made it seem like the season started 3 weeks before it actually did- so that could mess up anyone with a tight schedule. They did not send out rosters until the day before. They never communicated anything about a pre-game social meetup, so no one went. The location is abysmal. The school gym is waaaayy too small. It maybe would be ok for one game at a time, but squeezing two games side by side is just ridiculous. There is no room to serve or try to save balls that may be heading out of bounds. They rush the teams through the games to get them in and out in about 30 minutes. They start rally scoring very early. I literally do not break a sweat. Well, sometimes I do because it's so freaking hot in the gym and there is absolutely no ventilation. Also, they stack the teams with so many people that no one would play for more than 2 minutes if everyone came. Sometimes we have so many subs people end up sitting out for at least 10 minutes. oh! Even the balls they use are pathetic. There were literally rocks inside our ball, clanging around. They're too cheap to even provide adequate balls! To top it off, they have canceled 3 weeks of matches so far. They did not add them on to the back end of the season. All they care about is your money. I would never sign up for this league again. They couldn't even get the after-bar correct. We went where they told us and the bar refused to give us a discount saying that they were not the social bar for the week. read more

I haven't plaid with this league for over a year. But, upon seeing someone walk by in one of their shirts - all of the awful memories came flooding back to me. I played in the chinatown indoor soccer league. The refs were absolutely terrible. Calling nothing when girls on the team were actually getting BEAT up by boys on the other team (okay one guy who was a complete A-hole) - one of the girls ended up having to go to the doctor because of it and then physical therapy for a year thereafter. No fouls were called the entire time. It was very frustrating but we managed to keep our cool. We show up the next week and it's the same team AGAIN. I ask the dude there who is like the manager? or the overseer of the game. And he scrabbles looking through papers to check. He says we never played them before. I told him we absolutely did last week. Why would we be playing them again? What nightmare is this?He confirmed that there should be no repeats and that was that. The same guy continued to physically assault girls. He caused 2 to fall and then kicked them in...an area. I kid you not. Both. How does this happen? Finally it gets so out of control one of the guys on our team gets so frustrated he lets out an F-bomb because how the heck is this allowed? And of course he gets reprimanded for language. We're all adults in this league. It's silly. And honestly with what was going on, a lot more could have been said. Anyways, the moderator or whoever he was gets involved and started yelling at US. But he clearly had no clue how to play soccer. It would be nice if the moderators were at least given an overview of the game, the rules... he just sat there and watched until the F word was used and he started berating us while he stood aside and watched people getting beat up and was completely fine with that. Weeks later we received an email that was much like getting a note from the principle reprimanding us for our "poor sportsmanship". This was resolved when the situation was explained. But honestly, do any other league. Do ZogSports, who knows. Nothing could have been worse than this. So silly, but how poorly this league was run kept me up at night. read more

I signed up a Flag Football team this past season. Our primary concern was the lack of player safety in this league. We saw a consistent lack of calls by the refs concerning serious physical contact, some of which included opposing players puncturing players hands with metal spikes, forcefully knocking over female players who didn't even have the ball, and dangerously pushing players in the back when they went up to catch the ball. Although the rules clearly forbid any contact, none of these were called apparently because they were deemed to be "incidental contact". The most egregious event occurred when one of the players on the opposing team launched himself into the back of a defenseless player attempting to make a catch and then forcefully push him into the ground, causing him to hit his back, neck and head. This player was unable to get off the ground, and we had to call 911 to have an ambulance take him to an emergency room, where he had to get a CT Scan of his spine and head and was diagnosed with a concussion among other injuries. When I reported this to the organization the following afternoon (which, by the way, I'm shocked that none of the staff on site reported this to anyone in the main office before I contacted them the following day), I was met with mild concern, and a bit of victim blaming. In fact, I was informed that I should have reported this to the office earlier. I find it interesting that they rely solely on the players to report issues concerning safety, as I thought that's why they had staff on site, and that's what the refs were supposed to do. Otherwise, what are we paying for? I later found out (when I called back the next week) that all they did was talk to the ref company, and the ref company said it was due to "game flow" not malicious intent. I was then clearly notified that nothing else could be done, or would be done. I also found it surprising that no one from the office bothered to contact me to find out how our injured player was doing. This attitude reflects a general lack of concern for player safety. Last, I found that when the refs did make calls, that they were inconsistent. As an example, we were called for "grabbing the flag belt" in one game when our player happened to tug on an opposing players flag belt. However, in the next game, our player had his flag belt completely ripped off. When we complained, the ref said there's no penalty and didn't even give the player time to put his flag belt back on. No explanation was provided. Generally the staff on site were friendly and informative, but they didn't help much with the player safety issues. The office staff, on the other hand, was at times dismissive of our concerns, and at worst, almost rude. I love playing football. But we're all doing it for fun. It's simply not fun when the rules aren't enforced consistently and players have to worry about safety since the refs don't do much to protect them. We're moving to a different league. read more

So, I do football with New York's two premiere casual sports leagues, NYC Social and ZogSports. I absolutely love both, and have met great people through both, and would wholeheartedly recommend both to friends... But if someone put a gun to my head and said that I had to choose one of the two, I would choose Zog. And here's why: *Note* as all of my NYC Social experience is through their flag football league and not with any of their other leagues, this review primarily involves football. The following may or may not be applicable to other sports. -The NYC Social games are much shorter than Zog (2 18 minute halves, vs. 2 23 minute halves. 5 minutes per half may not seem like a lot, but believe you me, when you're in the game, you can definitely feel it). And the 2-minute warning (where incompletions, going out of bounds etc. would lead to a clock stop) only comes into play if the teams are within 6 points. This is silly, it should be AT THE VERY LEAST 8, if not more (with Zog, it's 16, which actually I think is a bit much, but I'd rather err on the side of too much than on the side of too little) -The refs are of slightly lower caliber. I know at least one ref who does both NYC Social and Zog, and he is an excellent referee. But other than him, for the most part the NYC Social refs don't seem to pay as much attention/aren't as willing to explain rules and penalties/seem more arbitrary in their officiating. -NYC Social isn't as well organized. The schedule comes out much more last minute than the Zog schedule, and there are sometimes last minute cancellations. At least with Zog, when there's a cancellation for whatever reason (as there was this week with my dodgeball league), I'm given several days notice to plan accordingly (I believe I was made aware of the dodgeball rescheduling about a week prior). On a related note, with NYC Social all the teams are in one division, whereas with Zog there are multiple divisions separated by skill level. This, I think, fosters much more fun and a more balanced level of play. How fair is it, to throw a team whose never played together before against a team returning for there 10th season? Now, all of this sounds like I'm hating on these guys, so why don't I balance out the negative with the positive: -NYC Social does flag football, with discrete first-down markers, whereas most Zog leagues are two-hand touch, where 2 completions will lead to a first down. I much prefer the NYC Social rules, as it encourages running back plays, and is more similar to real football. Zog has recently added a flag league too, but it's in a remote location (see next point). -NYC Social fields are great. The ones I play at are in Chelsea (28th and 8th) and the Lower East Side (just south of Houston St). Zog football is primarily on Randall's Island (yikes), and most of the best leagues (their doubleheader league, where each team plays two games a day, and their flag league) are at that location. I guess the only way to entice people to go all the way up there is by getting all the best leagues for it. That being said, the Brooklyn league is not hard to get to from Manhattan and has a nice field. -The social aspect of NYC Social is pretty cool. They really encourage teams to mingle with the other teams and go to the post-game bars. One of the flag leagues (the LES Friday league) actually has a bus that brings the players to the bar after the game. Nice! And there are team awards for things such as "Bar Champ" and "Spirit Award", which have to do with how outwardly social (read: how much you're willing to put pictures of yourself in NYC Social shirts on twitter and Facebook while having a great time), and the prizes are generally bar tabs and such. With Zog, there isn't as much of an emphasis on having the teams hangout as much after the games, although that inevitably happens anyways and I always have a great time post-zog games too. All in all, NYC Social is a great organization, and is a lot of fun and I love it very much, and if you have the time, I'd advise you to do sports with both (as I do). to get the full experience. read more

This is my first season with NYSS, so maybe I'm not giving them enough of a chance, but I have a love/hate relationship with this league. The love: -They seem to have a lot more people signing up for teams than ZogSports -The bars are pretty nice -I like the concept of posting action shots and bar photos on Facebook -Each team gets their own Spotify playlist for the bar The hate: -The refs are so much worse than Zog refs. Seriously, I've never seen more oblivious refereeing in my life (namely one of the soccer refs, who ignored one of our players nearly getting their head taken off) -If some players can't make it, you can bring in a sub, but they have to pay $15 to play. They don't make it easy on you when you're scrambling to find a new player for ONE GAME -If you see a line of thunderstorms coming and they might hit around gametime, how about cancelling the game an hour before instead of when we get to the field and it's already pouring and thundering, alright? There's definitely more of a focus on social in this league than in Zog, but I'd still recommend Zog over NYSS, at least right now...unless you like getting struck by lightning cause they forget to cancel the games. read more

I've been playing NYC Social for a few years now, on more than a dozen flag football teams. Because that is my experience this review will focus on flag football, primarily in comparison to the other big social coed flag football organization, Zog Sports. I play on teams in both leagues but prefer NYC Social and have played on more of their teams. That said, I would still give both leagues 5 stars, because social sports are truly a wonderful way to get exercise and enjoy sports while meeting awesome new people, no matter who is organizing the league. NYC Social coed football pros: *Generally better field locations. The Chelsea field is a gem. Zog has moved primarily to locations like Randall's and Roosevelt Island, which for most people are more of a hike. As a general rule, just check the game locations in advance and know what you are signing up for. And don't assume that the F train will be running every Sunday. *Better rules. This might seem minor, but they add up. NYC Social is flag versus Zog's touch, allows the center to go out for a pass instead of just standing there forbidden from doing anything (especially a problem for misogynistic teams that put a girl at center every play), allows fumbles (though not returns). There are some rules Zog does better (see cons), but on balance NYC Social gets it right. *Smaller teams. This might be a con if your sole purpose is to meet as many people as possible, but in Zog team sizes can really get absurd to the point that you aren't playing much if everyone shows up. NYC Social coed football cons: *Shorter games. Because the teams are smaller you probably play more in an NYC Social game, but a longer game would be nice. NYC Social also does not yet offer "doubleheader" leagues in football. *Some annoying rules, most notably that the clock does not stop unless the game is within 6 points--it should be 16, or at least 8. This may have been a response to steeper penalties for going over time on their permits at their better fields, but in that case it could be left to ref discretion. Returnable 2 point conversions would be nice too. *A smaller league. If your primary aim is social, Zog has more teams and just by numbers probably has a bigger bar scene for most of its leagues. And while NYC Social teams are probably better overall, Zog also has more divisions of play to accommodate different levels. Zog sometimes can have longer playoffs when they let division champions play each other as well. Zog also has the charity angle, but they give so little to the charity chosen by the league champion that I would hardly call that a pro. I guess it is better than nothing, but don't think that any appreciable amount of your sign-up fee is going to end up at a charity. The ref quality is about the same in each league, and I think some refs move back and forth just like the players do. The field coordinators at NYC Social are more involved and fun, for what that is worth. read more

Lots of hate on NYC Social lately on yelp... what's the deal?!? Is it the BEST sports league? NO! But they don't market themselves as a premiere sports league, they are intended as a SOCIAL league in which to get out, meet people, be active and have fun. And that's what they deliver! I can only speak for the volleyball league, but I have never had an issue with a missing ref. Some refs are better than others, but that's the case in professional sports too... In terms of the league's level of play - its variable. I myself can play at a higher level (and do in another league) but I enjoy the positive attitude of most participants. I do feel the pricing is a little high for the amount of play you get in indoor volleyball (rosters of 14 make it tough to get a groove going). But the people I've played with for the most part have all been awesome individuals that I've been glad to get to know! The league coordinators were super prompt and helpful in a matter that was our mistake, and rectified it professionally and efficiently. I would not hesitate to recommend their league to friends looking to get out and have fun! read more

There are so many things I love about this club... I love that they sent me birthday cards every year, even after I moved. It' s amazing! I love the yellow school bus bringing me from the game field to happy hour. It' s vintage! I love their Obama prank and I confess that I was one of the Fool's Day victims of this. I cursed my cable provider for that dead link... I love the hardcore players I have met on games. They are super sporty and social. I love all my NYCSSC t-shirts. They are what I can wear to show off in my gym. I love the drop-in games, $1 ultimate frisbee league and $7 football league... We cannot expect anything better on this. Come to NYCSSC and you will get some love too~ read more

The leagues I have played in have been hit or miss. I just moved to city so I've been trying to join many leagues as possible. When I signed up they delayed 2/3 of my leagues. When you get there most of the referees are always rushing you out of there and rush the "45 minutes". It is now June and the CDC says you don't have to wear masks anymore yet OUTSIDE we still have people nagging us regarding masks yet at Nassau Colliseum you don't have to wear one.... This past week at my football league the referee forgets his beanie bag and yells at ME for not moving the cone up and tells me "all I do is throw the ball" what am I paying for?? How lazy can you be?? Now I'm excited to join my kickball league tomorrow and they tell us TODAY they don't have a location because the city is renovating the CONCRETE field. How do you not know this WEEKS IN ADVANCE. I have enjoyed some of my teams where the people ACTUALLY show up. But these little incidents add up and it's getting tiresome. I've probably spent over $600 on leagues. read more

I've played in this league on and off for a couple seasons. They usually have decent locations and times. However, I never felt that the league was run as good as some comparable ones. Recently myself and a few friends put together a team. Some were against NYC Social for bad past experiences. I convinced them that the time and location were too perfect to pass up. To make a long story short, 75% of our team was registered and signed up before the "early deadline". (Early deadline meaning we were taking advantage of a cheaper price, this wasn't even the final deadline!!). That day all of the credit cards were charged and we were informed that we lost our spot because not every single individual paid (keep in mind, this was before the advertised deadline)It made zero sense to us and we were all incredibly PISSED OFF. Some of us called to complain. They offered refunds but we were unable to play anywhere else because other leagues deadlines were up. This is a terribly managed and run league. If you're fortunate to have 12 people who are able to sign up with short notice. You're fine to play. But we all felt incredibly disrespected by this act. We weren't even given until early registration deadline to complete our team. Inexcusable. No one was given any notice. They said " a lot of people were upset and never dealt with this before." Nice EDIT: Zog sports offered opened up a few more sports in their league after hearing about this and emailed each team individually. I guess the writings on the wall with this one. read more

Outdoor soccer league, summer 2014 - Awful experience. Our company paid for our team and they would not add people to the roster in a timely manner then try not to let them play, they rescheduled our final game without contacting anyone (resulting in our forfeit), terrible referees who often had to consult with each other in the middle of the very short games or who would be so in the way the balls would bounce of them multiple times. Would never do this again, even though we didn't personally pay for it. read more

A lot of anger about this organization, and their request for positive reviews. I guess the Internet never wants to miss a good opportunity for outrage. This fall was my first season with them (playing indoor volleyball), but my experience has been nothing but positive. Our games have been well-officiated, start on time, and the play is competitive but friendly. If yours is one of the minority of teams that fails to make the playoffs, you get offered a friendly scrimmage that week, which is cool. It's been a great experience and I've already signed up for the winter session and recruited friends to join. My only minor gripe is with the courts -- the gym is tight, so there's walls and a stage just behind the back lines, which limits area available for service. The ceilings could also be higher, they come into play a bit more than I like. But hey, it's a fun league -- I can deal. If you're a super-serious volleyballer, maybe this is a dealbreaker, I don't know. read more

Your experience may vary based on what you're looking for. Keep in mind that I've only done one season with NYC Social (inner tube water polo). I signed up for inner tube water polo with two aims in mind: try out a new sport and meet new people. I really enjoyed playing water polo. It's an intense sport that you can get into regardless of your previous experience level. The referees were very clear on the rules and did a thorough job of explaining. Be prepared to be out of breath throughout the game and exhausted afterwards. Most teams/players playing Inner tube water polo are competitive so there's really no socializing going on during the game itself. My social experience with NYC Social, on the other hand, was merely OK. Because I was new in town, I signed up as a free agent; I was placed in a team where everyone all knew each other, having played together for multiple seasons. Yes, they were friendly and outgoing, but I would have preferred a situation where I wasn't the sole outsider right off the bat. I was also much younger than everyone (most players in the league were young professionals in their late 20s through early 30s). The team size is about 10 people, which is an adequate size in terms of getting to know people. Be aware that the time of the games will directly impact the social benefits you'd get from the sports league. Water polo games took place any time between 7pm and 9pm at the Chinatown YMCA. After wrapping up a game at 10pm on a Sunday night, few people--myself included--have the energy to go to happy hour. I did kickball with ZogSports; overall I found that as an organization, NYC Social was much better organized and had much more professional referees. ZogSports usually doesn't schedule games during holiday weekends like Mothers Day, which I found useful (NYC Social had a game the day before MLK Day). However, my overall satisfaction with ZogSports' social component was much greater, and thus I am willing to put up with their inferior service. read more

The NYCSSC exists to provide an easy and active way to have fun and meet new friends through entertaining co-ed team sports, most of which will be reminiscent of your years in the schoolyard or on the playground. All teams are co-ed and casually competitive. All fields, equipment, scheduling, team standings, and bar sponsors are provided. Social non-sports-related events are also planned throughout the year. With the games, the bars, and the social events there are countless opportunties to meet new people, make new friends, and have a great time! They have dodgeball (with the rubber balls not the crappy foam ones like the zog league has), broomball, kickball and freaking WIFFLE ball! I think there might be other sports as well. Either way I think this league is way more fun than zog and I've played in zog for a couple of seasons. I also think the people are way more attractive.... Just kidding. read more

Not worth the money. I played in several leagues and the quality has gone down year on year. They are also trying to bribe people with free leagues for good yelp reviews. The referees for the soccer leagues clearly have no idea what soccer is. The social aspect is severely lacking as the bar specials that they advertise are frequently not accurate. In fact most of the bars have no idea that they are supposed to be offering specials to the extent that participants from our league had to arrange for a different bar to host the teams. If you want to play soccer, try urban soccer, nyc soccer, zog, nyc soccer collective or virtually any other league as they are all superior in terms of organization, quality of refereeing, social aspects, etc. And in the winter league they force you to play on pitches that have feet of snow impacted on them, which leads to multiple injuries. They also never pay attention to customer complaints. In short, they are so bad that I am not playing in any winter leagues with them despite having a 50% off voucher. read more