Mineola Portuguese Soccer Holds 75th Anniversary Gala

The Mineola Portuguese Soccer Club held its 75th Anniversary gala Saturday night, hosting over 250 people at the Portuguese Center on Jericho Turnpike.

Though the club itself is celebrating three-quarters of a century in existence, the club has only held a gala for about 60 years, with ceremonies not taking place during the Vietnam and Korean wars due to the young people being overseas, club general manager and vice-president Gabriel Marques explained.

The first Portuguese team on Long Island, the club has a rich history with several notable players, including New England Revolution player Gary Flood and Mineola native and New York Red Bulls star .

David Meves, a New Hyde Park resident whose father played for a junior Venfika team in Portugal, began playing with Mendes when they were both young.

“We grew up playing together since we were about 10 years old,” Meves, who plays left defense, said. “Our fathers are both very involved with the Portuguese club, we’re very involved... so they brought us in to play.”

Both played for Mineola Portuguese when they were 15-16 years old in the mens’ league, with Meves going to Penn State on a full scholarship while Mendes headed to Old Dominion.

“Its great that its back the way that it used to be back in the early 80s,” Meves said, alluding to prior leadership in the organization. “It used to be a very strong soccer club and now the organization that (president) Marco (DaFonte) puts forth is super for the Portuguese club and for the community.”

The extended family also included a former Mineola mayor-tuned state senator. In the lower level lounge against one of the back walls, a young flashes his trademark grin while wearing a yellow Lions Club jersey from  the 1990s.

“Special things like this don’t happen by accident,” Martins said, giving some of his speech in Portuguese. “They happen through a lot of hard work from a lot of different individuals that make it a reality. But you can elevate the talent of individuals, bring them together as a team and by working as a team, not only become regional champions but also have the potential and be right at the threshold of being national champions and that’s what we expect from this team and I think that’s what you expect from yourselves as well.”

The club plays in the Long Island Football Soccer League, in the East division. “It’s the closest thing you can get to an organized mens’ league,” Meves said. “I think there’s a good group of reserves that can fill for first team spots if need bee. But the caliber of soccer is phenomenal on both levels.”

Mineola Portuguese has also tried to reach out to former members and even managed to receive stories from players, second-generation players and their fathers. Marques shared stories sent to him from one individual who found out about his heritage through the team’s website, doing an online search and locating the name of his father who a member of the 1954 team. Another letter shared the story about Fred Edwards Jr., whose father started the league in 1948.

“It’s amazing how a single sport or just a single ball can bring so many different people together and to do so much for a community like Mineola,” Marques said, standing next to a photo of the 1954 championship team. “Some people have said that 90 minutes of soccer is like 50 years of marriage all condensed into one. You have doctors, you have lawyers, you have construction workers, we have custodians all together cheering or jeering against a team.”

Much of the night was spent paying homage to the club president, who is also the only active player on the team in the Hall of Fame.

“Marco revived the spirit of this community that had in soccer,” Marques said. “We’ve had many soccer teams throughout the years and they’ve come and they’ve gone and they come back again and this team was really – pretty much after the Carlos Mendes era – we’ve had a few teams but nothing really stuck until Marco, who’s a second-generation player-participant in this team.”

DaFonte’s father Jack had brought the club two state championships and “It’s almost astounding that his son would be the one to come back and say ‘listen, we’re going to bring this back’,” Marques said.

“It’s great to see the tradition of success in soccer in these hallowed walls continue under the direction of Marco and the rest of the executive board,” Mineola Village Trustee Paul Pereira, who is also the boys varsity soccer coach at Mineola High School, added.

Handing out citations to DaFonte and members of the executive board that evening were Nassau , R-New Hyde Park, and Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos, who played soccer up to the semiprofessional level.

“I had to make a choice whether to continue school or continue soccer. I’m glad I chose continuing school,” Maragos said. “Gabriel mentioned before that most people that participate in the sport of soccer are emotional, I think they’re passionate. ”

Nicolello, who Marques said was one of the first public officials to come out and support the team and he actually came to one of our games and since he did that, he won over our hearts, hands down,” also handed out his own citations.

“It just goes to generations to generation of people putting their effort into making this work,” Nicolello said. “With the enthusiasm, with the passion for excellence and the victories that you’ve enjoyed and this is a great time and it’s a tribute to everyone in this room that you’ve had such a resurgence.”

The annual gala is not just a celebration each year, but a fundraiser which accounts for nearly half of the team’s annual revenue. The team operates on a $10,000 budget each year, but requires an extra $5,000 when they enter the U.S. Open, which Marques says they will do next year.

The team has also partnered with the Kicking4Celiac Facility, headed by former arena football player , to run charity events.

“That’s something that for me speaks volumes about the Portuguese community , not only about how good a people they are, but a community as a whole,” Pinto said.

And while the club plays its home games on a field outside the village of Mineola, “we hope to change that in the near future,” Pereira said.

“We promise that that spark which ignited the spark that this community has for soccer... that that flame will burn as bright and as brilliant for years to come as it does right now,” Marques said.