Giovanni “Gio” Cambareri is joining the UPSL FCY New York coaching staff. Gio is currently the Goalkeeper Coach for Men’s & Women’s Soccer Team at Niagara County Community College (NJCAA D3 – 2022), previously served as an Assistant Coach/Goalkeeper Coach for the Men’s & Women’s Soccer Team at Wells College (NCAA D3 – 2019) under Coach Mara Primmer and Jim McIntyre, before becoming the Men’s Soccer Club Coach for Canisius College (NIRSA Region 1 – since 2020).
In 1988, Gio started to play soccer with a local club in the suburbs of Rome, a youth academy affiliated with A.S. Roma. As a teenager he showed promise of being a future professional player. He played both for the A.S.D. Casalotti P.M. and the U.S. Ladispoli before arriving at the Reggina Calcio (Serie A – Primavera) in August 1999. This was a great year for him as he debuted with the A.S.D. Tanas Casalotti first team when he was only 17 years old in a friendly game against the U.S. Fiumicino, with a win decided over an amazing corner-kick by Gio, where the striker scored on the first post. Over the summer he attended a tournament with the first team U.S. Palmese 1912. He played the last game which ended in a tie (A.S.D. Rosarnese vs U.S. Palmese 1912) and was decided on penalties, with the victory of the “Neroverdi”. With Reggina Calcio Primavera under coach Roberto Alberti, he played only a friendly game against Pro Pellaro 1919, and he missed his first game in Coppa Italia Primavera against Cosenza Calcio. Gio’s pre-season career was affected by injuries, which limited his playing time, and he lost the chance to advance as a professional.
During his youth career Gio played with and against a lot of players that had the opportunity to reach professional level, like Simone Farelli (A.S. Roma – Goalkeeper), Alessandro Fonte (S.S. Lazio – Athletic Coach), Gianluca Macrì (Reggina Calcio), etc…
Gio began his coaching career in 2017 while at Lakefront SC, working with youth talents, under Coaching Directors Jesse Myers & Malcolm Kersey. After two seasons, he moved up with the GPS/Rochester FC to a premier level. In 2020 he moved to Buffalo and started to expand his coaching career to collegiate level with Canisius College Men’s Soccer Club and interscholastic level with Frontier High School as JV Coach under Varsity Head Coach Richard Kozak, followed by Holland High School as Varsity Head Coach. Since 2020 he has been working on developing goalkeepers and pathways to college for players.
Gio is currently the Goalkeeper Academy Coach and Head Coach Kenmore Niagara Lightning U17 Boys Team at Kenmore SC. He has also coached the boys in the WNY High School All-Star game for the last 2 years (2020-2021). He is involved in coaching youth with Everton FC International Academy and Real Madrid FC Foundation and comes to FCY NY with a wide range of international experience.
Gio graduated from the Centro de Formación Valencia CF (Spain – 2020) and Centro Nacional de Formación de Entrenadores (Spain – 2022). He holds several coaching licenses from USSF and other federations (FA, Scottish FA, FAW, Irish FA, CSA, CSI-CONI, CSEN-CONI). He has been a member of United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America) since 2019. He is a CSEN-CONI Qualified Athletic Trainer & Personal Trainer.
Gio’s expertise also includes PFSA & IPSO Qualified Professional Scout & Analyst. In 2021, he had the opportunity of a scouting internship with Wisła Płock S.A. a Polish professional football club, scouting U20 players for their second team.
Additionally, he coaches amateur teams, offering a program designed for players that want to keep playing during and after High School/College at the competitive level.
“Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is” (Johan Cruijff).