Joseph S. Carenza Sr. (died 1981) was a U.S.

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

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 ...

who played for numerous St. Louis teams in the 1940s and 1950s. He went on to coach the

Washington University Bears The Washington University Bears are the athletic teams of Washington University in St. Louis, located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Washington University is currently a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the NCAA Di ...

men's soccer team from 1959 to 1964. He is a member of the

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a private, non-profit institution established in 1979 and currently located in Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The Hall of Fame honors soccer achievements in the United States. Induction ...

Player

Carenza was born and raised in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

. He served in the Navy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After the war, he joined an amateur team in the St. Louis Catholic Youth Council (CYC) called St. Margaret's Senior. In the late 1940s, he moved to the St. Louis Major League where he first joined Steamfitters. He then moved to Patterson and then

St. Louis Simpkins-Ford St. Louis Simpkins-Ford ''(also known as Simpkins)'' was a U.S. amateur soccer team based in St. Louis, Missouri from 1947 to 1956. It won three league championships and the 1948 and 1950 National Challenge Cups, and lost in the finals of the 1954 ...

. In 1951, he played for Zenthoefer Furs when they won the St. Louis Major League by ten points over Simpkins. In 1954, he became a player-coach for St. Louis Kutis. During his time with Kutis, the team won the 1956 and 1957 National Amateur Cup and the 1957

National Challenge Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. O ...

. In 1958, he moved to St. Louis Simpkins.

Coach

In 1959,

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

hired Carenza to establish a men's soccer team. Carenza was the head coach of the team through the 1964 season, amassing a 31-17-6 (.630) record. Carenza died in St. Louis on October 17, 1981. In 1982, Carenza was inducted into the

. In 1996, he was inducted into the Washington University Sports Hall of Fame

Family

He married Mary Ella Newsome after returning from World War II. Their four children include Joseph Carenza Jr.,

John Carenza John Carenza (January 3, 1950 – March 17, 2023) was an American soccer player who was a member of the U.S. Olympic soccer team. He also spent five seasons in the North American Soccer League. College Carenza graduated from St. Mary's High Sc ...

, Christopher Carenza, and Mary Lisa Carenza Keenan. His son,

, became an Olympic soccer player. Both John and his brother

Chris Carenza Christopher James "Chris" or "CJ" Carenza is a retired American soccer defender who played professionally in the North American Soccer League. College Carenza, son of Hall of Famer Joe Carenza, Sr. and brother of John Carenza, graduated from ...

played professionally in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

References

External links

Washington University team history

1981 deaths American men's soccer players Soccer players from St. Louis St. Louis Simpkins-Ford players St. Louis Kutis S.C. players Zenthoefer Furs players American soccer coaches National Soccer Hall of Fame members Year of birth missing Men's association football midfielders Washington University Bears men's soccer coaches Men's association football player-managers St. Louis Kutis S.C. coaches {{US-footy-midfielder-stub