William Amedeo Conterio (November 29, 1929 – August 9, 2017) was an 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 ...

. He was a member of the United States soccer teams at the

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

and 1956 Summer Olympics.

Career

Conterio was born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

at the start of the Great Depression. He grew up on the northwest side of Chicago to a family which struggled financially. Despite these difficulties, Conterio became involved in athletics at Portage Park. This led him to playing Juvenile Ball with a Norwegian-American club. He credits that coach with teaching him to become ambidextrous. Conterio graduated from Carl Schurz High School in 1948. In high school, he earned nine varsity athletic letters in soccer, tennis, and wrestling. As captain, he led the Schurz H.S. soccer team to two Chicago City Championships, twice being named as an All-State soccer player. He was voted Most Athletic by his classmates and was later inducted into the school's Sports Hall of Fame. Conterio played for several adult soccer teams before joining the Chicago Slovaks of the National Soccer League of Chicago. In 1952 he was chosen for the U.S. Olympic Soccer Team

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

, but did not enter any games in the tournament. Conterio also spent time in the mid-1950s in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

. After his discharge in 1956, he was chosen for the 1956 U.S. Olympic team. He played one game during that tournament. After the Olympics, Conterio joined the Chicago Polish Falcons. He found the situation with the Falcons unpleasant and returned to the Slovaks after two games.

Personal life

He later worked for Stalford Chemical Company in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

. His daughter Amy's children, Andy Huftalin, Nick Huftalin, Mitch Huftalin, and Matt Huftalin, all play soccer today. Nick plays as a goalkeeper for Carthage College, Andy as striker for the

Marquette Golden Eagles The Marquette Golden Eagles, formerly known as the Marquette Warriors, Blue and Gold, Gold, Hilltoppers, and Golden Avalanche (football only), are the athletic teams representing Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. They ...

, and the 1997-born twins, Mitch and Matt, for

Rockford Raptors The Rockford Raptors were an American soccer team based in Rockford, Illinois. The team began in the USISL and moved to the USISL Pro League in 1995. In 1999, the team was relegated to the Premier Development League. The Raptors are now a so ...

Soccer Club in Rockford, Illinois.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Conterio, Bill 1929 births 2017 deaths American men's soccer players Chicago Slovak players Olympic soccer players for the United States Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1956 Summer Olympics National Soccer League (Chicago) players Soccer players from Chicago Men's association football midfielders Carl Schurz High School alumni United States men's international soccer players