From left to right, Eastern New York State Adult Soccer Association President Sal Rapaglia, Hall of Fame Chairperson Rocco Amoroso, new Hall of Famer Giulio Petruccelli, Eastern New York State Adult Soccer Association Treasurer Mario Treglia and Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association President Richard Christiano
By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
December 13, 2013-The Eastern New York State Adult Soccer Association and Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) congratulate Giulio Petruccelli on being inducted into the Eastern New York Soccer Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony took place at our 2013 Holiday Party on December 8 at Marina del Rey in the Bronx.
Giulio, a native of Italy, immigrated to New York City in 1963. He started playing soccer for Benjamin Cardozo High School and was fortunate to have a great soccer coach, Mr. Tatarian, who started his passion of soccer and became one of the most influential people in his life. Giulio advanced from a mediocre soccer player to the MVP award recipient in his senior year. He also played for the New York Bavarians Soccer Club in the Cosmopolitan Soccer League. He then played for Queens College before a serious injury ended his playing career.
So in 1973, a decade after he arrived in New York, he started a life of volunteering for the Auburndale Soccer Club of the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL). He began coaching for the intramural program and then advanced to head coach of the entire club. With the help of other devoted volunteers, he increased the Auburndale intramural program from 4 to 37 teams.
Recently, with his daughter Teresa, Giulio founded the Auburndale TOPSoccer Special Children’s Program.
Not surprisingly, the Flushing resident has received the Coach of the Year Award for both the Auburndale Soccer Club as well as the entire LIJSL. He has been honored with Auburndale’s Lifetime Achievement Award plus was selected as the Queens Man of the Year and by NY Channel 1 as the Volunteer of the Year.
Giulio co-founded the S.S. Cosma & Damiano Soccer Club of the Italian-American Soccer League and became the player/coach of the team. Cosma eventually became one of the most successful soccer teams in the league and in all of New York State. Giulio has been inducted into the S.S. Cosma & Damiano Hall of Fame.
His teachings go beyond the soccer field. Giulio teaches his players how to respect the coaching staff and the referees, respect their teammates and more importantly to respect themselves by keeping them off the street and on the soccer field.
With 123,843 youth soccer players––68,587 boys and 55,256 girls––and more than 25,000 volunteers, the non-profit Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) stretches from Montauk Point, Long Island to the Canadian border. Members are affiliated with 11 leagues throughout the association, which covers the entire state of New York east of Route 81. ENYYSA exists to promote and enhance the game of soccer for children and teenagers between the ages of 5 and 19 years old, and to encourage the healthy development of youth players, coaches, referees and administrators. All levels of soccer are offered––from intramural, travel team and premier players as well as Special Children. No child who wants to play soccer is turned away. ENYYSA is a proud member of the United States Soccer Federation and United States Youth Soccer Association. For more information, please log on to http://www.enysoccer.com/, which receives nearly 300,000 hits annually from the growing soccer community.