Alexandre "Alex" Ely ( uk, Олександр (Олесь) Ілай, February 9, 1938 - September 28, 2021) was a Brazilian-American soccer

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, teacher and author. Ely played extensively in the U.S., Canada and Brazil winning multiple league and cup titles. He also earned four

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

with the U.S. national team between 1960 and 1965. In addition to his extensive professional resume, Ely coached at the high school, collegiate and professional levels. He was inducted into the United States National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1997.

Club career

In 1958, Ely spent a single season in the Philadelphia United Soccer League, an amateur city league. In 1959, he signed with the Ukrainian Nationals of the American Soccer League (ASL). Over his six seasons with the Nationals, the team won four league championships and three National Challenge Cup titles. In both 1961 and 1963, Ely and his teammates took the "double" of league and cup championships. The Nationals spent one season in the Eastern Professional Soccer League in 1964–1965. However, the league folded at the end of the season. Ely took every opportunity to play. In addition to the Nationals, he played with several teams in other leagues during the ASL off season. In 1960, he was with the

New York Americans The New York Americans, colloquially known as the Amerks, were a professional ice hockey team based in New York City from 1925 to 1942. They were the third expansion team in the history of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the second to play ...

of the

International Soccer League The International Soccer League was a U.S.-based soccer league which was formed in 1960 and collapsed in 1965. The League, affiliated with the American Soccer League, featured guest teams primarily from Europe and some from Asia, South America, C ...

. Then in 1961 and 1962, he played with Toronto Roma of the

Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League The Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada. The league operated for six seasons from 1961 to 1966 across four cities in two Canadian provinces and one American state. In the 1960s, the Eastern Canada Professional ...

with whom he won a league championship. He returned to the Eastern Canada League in 1964 and 1965 with

Toronto City Toronto City was a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario. Between 1961 and 1967, teams using this name competed in both the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League and the United Soccer Association. History ECPSL In 1961, along with ...

. Ely's devotion to the game reached its height in 1965. In addition to playing for the Nationals and Toronto City, he also played in the German American Soccer League. While playing in multiple leagues in two countries, Ely also attended the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

. He graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in foreign language education in 1964. In 1965, Ely returned to Brazil where he became an English teacher and played professionally with Santos. In 1972, he returned to the U.S., settling in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

where he attended

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

. While working on his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

, Ely both played for and coached the

Philadelphia Spartans The Philadelphia Spartans were a soccer team that was a charter member of the non-FIFA sanctioned National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967. Based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania they played their home games at Temple Stadium in North P ...

for the 1972 ASL season. The Spartans folded at the end of the season and Ely moved to the

Delaware Wings The Delaware Wings was an American soccer club that was a member of the American Soccer League. Coach * Al Barrish * Charles Duccilli (1974) Year-by-year See also * Central Delaware SA Future * Delaware Dynasty * Delaware Wizards * List of pr ...

of the ASL. The Wings folded at the end of the 1974 season. He continued to play in the International United German Hungarian Old Timers tournaments from 1976 to 1985.

National and Olympic teams

In 1959, Ely joined the U.S. national team at the Pan American Games. The U.S. took third place at the games, which are not considered a full international tournament. Following the games, the U.S. entered qualification for the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

but a loss to Mexico on October 8 and a tie with Mexico on November 22 kept the U.S. out of the Olympic tournament. Ely earned his first official

with the U.S. national team on November 13, 1960, in a loss to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in a World Cup qualifier. That loss put the U.S. out of contention for a spot in the cup. He did not play for the U.S. again until 1965. That year, he played three of the four World Cup qualification games, all in March. The U.S. tied Mexico 2–2 on March 7, Ely and his teammates lost the away game five days later in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

. He missed the U.S. win over Honduras, but played in the 1–1 tie on March 21 which put the U.S. out of cup contention.

Coaching

Ely began coaching in 1960, while attending the

. In addition to playing professionally and attending classes, he served as an assistant coach at the university until he graduated in 1964. In 1972, he spent a single season coaching the

of the American Soccer League. After the Spartans folded, he was hired by Monsignor Bonner High School where he coached the boys team from 1972 to 1976. In 1981, he became the boys soccer coach at Archbishop Carroll High School. In 1996, he was hired as the women's coach at Swarthmore College. In his two seasons with the team, he compiled an 11-26-3 record. In addition to coaching at the high school and collegiate levels, Ely also founded the America Kolping Soccer Club in 1975. He served as head coach for the club for twenty years. He later continued to coach with the Jersey Shore Boca soccer club."Kicking Off: Jersey Shore Boca opens 2007 season Sunday"
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Educator

When Ely returned to Brazil in 1965, he taught English for seven years. He authored two English textbooks, ''A New Approach to English'' and ''Intermediate Course''. After returning to the U.S., he earned a

from

in English Education before becoming a teacher in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at

Cardinal Dougherty High School upright=1.35, CDHS marching band at the World Music Championship 1966 Cardinal Dougherty High School (CDHS) was a private, Roman Catholic high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphi ...

and later Archbishop Prendergast High School. Ely authored the novel
Destiny At Dawn
' as well as his memoir,
From Hell To The National Hall Of Fame
'.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ely, Alex 1938 births Living people American Soccer League (1933–1983) coaches American Soccer League (1933–1983) players American expatriate soccer players American soccer coaches American soccer players Association football midfielders Brazilian emigrants to the United States Delaware Wings players Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League players Eastern Professional Soccer League (1928–29) players Expatriate soccer players in Canada Footballers at the 1959 Pan American Games German-American Soccer League players International Soccer League players National Soccer Hall of Fame members Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in football People from Mogi das Cruzes Philadelphia Spartans (ASL) players Philadelphia Spartans coaches Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals players Santos FC players Toronto City players Toronto Roma players United States men's international soccer players Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games