New York Football Remembers Players, Coaches and Parents

A community remembered

The breadth of the memorial is its defining feature. The report says those remembered included people whose influence was often felt away from the spotlight: coaches organising training, parents travelling to matches and volunteers keeping clubs active.

The names connected with the local game include:

• Sergio Villanueva, a College Point Flames player and FDNY firefighter.
• Marty Boryczewski, a former Saint Peter’s College goalkeeper.
• Craig Gibson, linked with Barnstonworth Rovers in the Cosmopolitan Soccer League.
• Joe Maggitti, part of the University of Baltimore team that won the 1975 NCAA Division II title.
• Coaches Paul Zols and Danny Trant, associated with Oceanside United and the Northport/Cow Harbor Bandits.

From remembrance to support

The response was practical as well as ceremonial. The report says the 9/11 New York Soccer Foundation was formed to support bereaved families connected with the game. In November 2001, a fundraiser at Farmingdale State College included three matches and attracted a large crowd.

That event captured football’s role in the aftermath. Clubs could not undo the loss, but they could offer a meeting place, raise funds and keep people connected. Memorials, anniversary tributes and moments of silence have since remained part of the region’s football calendar, the report says.

The next anniversary will again bring these names into focus. For New York football, remembrance is not separate from the sport’s identity; it is part of how clubs honour the people who gave local football its community.