“At the start of any season, and what I often tell my boys, is that the best part about playing the game is the friends you make along the way! It was very true for me.”
Giving back to the game I learned so much from is very important to me!
I started playing the game when I was 11 years of age. I was athletic but not very good with the ball. Every year that went by I fell in love with the game and I was with a ball everyday an all day. I played with Club Italia and was surrounded by some of the best players in WNY. I really started to excel when I was about 15. I would routinely play summer pickup games with the Buffalo Stallions players behind Dave’s Christmas Store near Union Road & Williams Street in Cheektowaga. Somehow I found myself on the field with these much older more experienced professionals like Jim May, Eddie Azevedo, Carlos Salguero, Oscar Pisano, Pat Occhiuto, Bobby and Michael Dinunzio and Rudy and Randy Pikuzinski.
My first coaching job was coaching beginners at the YMCA on Main Street in Williamsville. I was 16 years old and nobody told me how difficult it was going to be to teach 5-6 year olds the fundamentals over a 10 week period. Coach John Astudillo volunteered me and I had no choice. Eventually, I did start to enjoy it as I grew more confident and relaxed and learned to be myself.
I helped coach the Girls Varsity Soccer Teams at Williamsville North. I was a Staff Soccer Coach at Sportsplex along with my buddies Jeff Hoerner, Tim Liffiton, James Harrigan, and Kevin O’Neil. I coached my younger brother Aldo and his Germania team for two seasons.
I used to travel and work soccer camps throughout the United States. The best and most memorable camps were at the University of Virginia. It was the mecca of US Soccer players and coaches during the late 80’s and early 90’s. Bruce Arena was the UVA Coach and Bob Jenkins was the Assistant Coach and they ran the Camp. There were National team players and coaches that I worked with including Dave Sarachan, Tony Meola, Jeff Agoos, John Harkes, Tab Ramos and Richie Williams.
I played high school soccer at Williamsville North and was chosen to the All-WNY Soccer Team in 1986.. I was an All-New York State Player at UB in 1986, 1987 & 1989.
After my playing career at UB, I was offered and accepted a role as an Assistant Coach for a few seasons. I learned a lot about coaching from John Astudillo, a true master tactician of the game. I helped start the Boys and Girls UB Soccer Camps in 1989 and they’re still running today. I enjoyed recruiting and setting up the season schedule. It was a tough task trying to get non-divisional Division 1 teams to travel to Buffalo.
In 1992, I tried out for the Buffalo Blizzard. I had a great tryout but suffered a complete tear of my ACL in my left knee. That was the end of my playing career.
I went on to coach the Varsity soccer team at my alma-mater Williamsville North. I enjoyed my years at North but it was time to start a family and concentrate on my VIPTIX business.
One of my starstruck soccer experiences was being a translator and traveling with AS Roma on their 2004 Champions World Series US summer tour. I was on the field with the best of the best in the world. I remember standing in the middle of Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field the day before their first match against Chelsea FC and looking around as both teams were stretching their legs. On the Chelsea side there was Frank Lampard, John Terry, Didier Drogba and the team was managed by Jose Morinho. On the Giallorossi side they asked me to play a possession game with the likes of Francesco Totti, Antonio Cassano, Simone Perotta, Christian Chivu, Christian Panucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Vincenzo Montella, Olivier Dacourt and Coach Cesere Prandelli. Here I was playing with world class players. Wow, were they good and on a whole other level. Totti came over and said, “An American who can play”.
These days I would rather watch my boys play than go to a professional match any day. They are my Stars! I have coached each one of my boys off and on. They enjoy having me on the field with them and I enjoy watching them go through their own soccer journey’s. I have coached both Primo and Nico at Empire United and for the Clarence Soccer Club. Currently, I am coaching the U10 Clarence Boys and it’s special because my youngest son Brando finally gets to have me as his Coach.
There isn’t really anywhere I go that I don’t run into one of my former coaches, teammates, players or officials. I am very to lucky to have a huge extended soccer family!
“At the start of any season, and what I often tell my boys, is that the best part about playing the game is the friends you make along the way! It was very true for me.”
Read more about my soccer experiences, my boys progress and their journey’s in my Blog.
NICK GIAMMUSSO 