Frank D'Amelio is a former U.S.

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

defender who played one season in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

, one in the American Soccer League and the 1980–1981 indoor NASL season. He later coached for over two decades on the collegiate, high school and youth club levels.

Player

D'Amelio was born in Italy, but moved to the United States at some point during his early youth. He grew up on

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

and attended Baldwin High School. He began college at

Adelphi University Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York, United States. Adelphi also has centers in Downtown Brooklyn, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County in addition to a virtual, online campus for remote students. As of 2019, it had ...

in 1976. He took a year off to play for the U.S. U-21 national team in 1977 then returned to college at the

University of Evansville The University of Evansville (UE) is a private university in Evansville, Indiana. It was founded in 1854 as Carnegie Hall of Moores Hill College, Moores Hill College. The university operates a satellite center, Harlaxton Manor, Harlaxton College ...

. He spent the 1978 and 1979 seasons with the Purple Aces. He was inducted into the Evansville Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992. In 1980, the Philadelphia Fury selected D'Amelio in the first round of the

's college draft. He played eight games for the Fury. In the fall of 1981, he moved to the

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994) The Fort Lauderdale Strikers were an American soccer team establishe ...

and played the 1980–1981 NASL season before being released. He then moved to New York United for the 1981 American Soccer League season.D'Amelio deals himself out of Memorial job
/ref> United went to the championship game where it fell to the Carolina Lightnin'. He retired from playing professionally at the end of the season.

Coaching

D'Amelio began his coaching career as an assistant coach with Evansville in the fall of 1980 as he finished his

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

in languages. In 1982, he coached the

Reitz Memorial High School Reitz Memorial High School or simply Memorial High School (MHS) is an inter-parochial Catholic high school on the east side of Evansville, Indiana, United States. It sits on land bought with money donated by Francis Joseph Reitz in 1922 in memo ...

soccer team to the semifinals of the Indiana State championship. However, it was an unpaid position and D'Amelio was making a living as a construction worker with Traylor Brothers Construction Company. In March 1983, his brother and sister were able to get him a position as a blackjack dealer in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

at a considerable increase in salary compared to his construction work. He lived in Nevada for only a year or two before moving to

East Rockaway, New York East Rockaway is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island, in New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 9,81 ...

where he worked for

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, or simply KLM (an abbreviation for their official name Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. , ),

. He also played at the amateur level and was an assistant coach with Baldwin High School. In 1993, he returned to Las Vegas. In 1998, he became an assistant coach at

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. ...

, a position he held for eight seasons. In 2003, he became the head coach of the

Las Vegas Strikers Las Vegas Strikers were an American soccer team, founded in 2003. The team were a member of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, and play in the Southwest Conference. The Strikers play their ...

in the

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The league is officially affiliated to the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) and has automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup. ...

. The Strikers folded following the 2006 season. He also coached at Valley High School. In 2006, he coached the Las Vegas Toros in the National Alliance Soccer League.New soccer team, league plan to take field at Orleans Arena
/ref>

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Amelio, Frank 1957 births Living people Adelphi Panthers men's soccer players American soccer coaches American men's soccer players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Evansville Purple Aces men's soccer players Evansville Purple Aces men's soccer coaches Italian emigrants to the United States New York United players Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players UNLV Rebels men's soccer coaches Footballers from Turin People from Baldwin, Nassau County, New York People from East Rockaway, New York Philadelphia Fury (1978–1980) players Men's association football defenders Soccer players from Nassau County, New York National Premier Soccer League coaches 20th-century American sportsmen