This article supplements information found on page 37 of the Feb. 12, 2001 issue of Soccer America Magazine. Then & Now DiBernardo: æSoccer keeps me very busyÆ Angelo DiBernardo, a 1978 Hermann Trophy winner at Indiana, was one of the first Americans to leave college early for a successful pro career — L.A. Aztecs (1979) and the New York Cosmos (1980-84). DiBernardo, 44, is in his 12th year of teaching Spanish at Wauboinsie Valley High School in the Chicago suburb of Aurora, Ill. He and his wife, Patricia, have two daughters: Angela, 11, and Vanessa, 8. INTERVIEW BY WILL KUHNS SOCCER AMERICA: How do you like the area where you live? ANGELO DIBERNARDO: It’s nice. This is basically where I moved when I first came to the United States from Argentina when I was 16, so this is my home. I really like the Chicago area. It’s beautiful. A little cold in winter, but beautiful. SA: What do you do outside of the classroom? AD: I coach the high school boys team. Rudy Keller, who I played with for Sparta soccer club back when we were teenagers, helped me start our own soccer club recently. There are 16 teams in the club — 11 boys teams and five girls teams. It’s called Americas Soccer Club. I coach my two daughters. SA: How does that go — coaching your daughters? AD: Well, when they first started playing, I didn’t really want to coach them. But after a while, I felt Angela was not making the kind of progress I hoped, so I began coaching … [my daughters] are treated just like any other kids, only sometimes I’m even a little harder on them. SA: Because there’s no parent to say, ‘Hey, go easy on my daughter’? AD: There is — their mother. (laughs) SA: So you’re pretty heavily involved in soccer. AD: Yes, and the third part, after the high school and the club, is that I am part-owner of an indoor facility that just opened last December. So between the three, soccer keeps me very busy. But I do it because I love the game. SA: Do you play anymore? AD: I do play when I can. On Saturdays, wherever I find the time. I keep my skills sharp by training with my teams. SA: What can you say about the difference in soccer now vs. when you came here in 1972? AD: Soccer has changed dramatically. There’s really no comparison. The kids at the high school level nowadays are much better players than we were when we played in college. And it goes on up to the top, with the national teams and the successes they’re having. Fifteen to 20 years ago there was no way those teams could have that kind of success. The American player at the youth level today can compete with anybody in the world. The professional level is a little different story, we still have some work to do there, but if progress continues in the next 10 years as fast as it has over the last 10 years, there is no reason why we shouldn’t be one of the top soccer nations in the world. SA: What about MLS? Can you imagine what it would be like to play in that league as opposed to the NASL? AD: Not to take anything away from MLS, but I think the NASL was better from the standpoint of there being a lot of very good players. Although they might have been near the end of their careers, it was great for the younger players to be on the field with them because they played with their minds as well as their bodies and they didn’t rely on their bodies as much as we did. I think MLS has made strides every year on the field, but in ’79, ’80 and ’81, the NASL was a very good league. MLS, however is way ahead of where our league was in terms of corporate sponsorship, TV exposure and the things they’re doing with U.S. Soccer. SA: Any fond memories from IU or the Cosmos? AD: I tell you, my soccer years at Indiana and New York were among the best years of my life, right along with my involvement in my kids’ lives now. I have fond memories of all of it. I wish I could do it all over again. SA: Is there still pain when you think about the injury you had in 1981? (damage to multiple ligaments after a hard tackle) AD: That kind of put a damper on my career, I’d have to say. It happened when I was playing the best soccer of my life and it put me out of action for 11 months. Physically, I was never as fast or as quick after that. I do believe everything happens for a reason, though, and it made me a stronger person. I learned that things can happen in a very rapid way that take a long time and a lot of work to fix. That is a period of time when you have a lot of soul-searching. You end up thinking about a lot of things. Was it tough? Yes. Did it make me a better person? Yes. So there are always some positives and some negatives to it. SA: What do you enjoy most about teaching? AD: There’s no substitute for seeing the improvement that kids make during the year. Most of them don’t have any Spanish background when they come into my class, but when they leave, they can communicate orally and in writing. That, and seeing students and athletes come back to visit once they’re in college; they are sending you a message that you made a difference. SA: How has your high school team fared? AD: I think we’ve done quite well. Along with two other schools, I’d say we’ve been one of the better programs in the state over the past seven or eight years. We’ve been very consistent. Our best finish was last year when we were third in the state with a very young team. Our goal every year is to win the state championship, but in this area it’s very hard to do; there are a lot of good teams. Sometimes I think it’s harder to win our sectional than it is to win the state final. SA: So what’s next for you? AD: Next? (laughs) Right now I have my hands full and my feet full. I don’t know — I’d like to retire in my 50s if possible, but once my kids go to college, I’d like to be involved with coaching at that level, too.