ENZO DE LUCA

Over the years, New Jersey has had 12 men inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oncota, N.Y. Among them is the former state president Enzo DeLuca, a 1979 inductee to the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

A former player and team captain in his native Italy, Enzo DeLuca was a team founder/coach and league organizer in Jersey City where he served for 34 years as a recreation supervisor for the Hudson County Parks Commission.

One of the founders of the strong Italian-American League in North Jersey, DeLuca was also a prominent sports journalist who reported on soccer in the Hudson County area for years with a column in the local press and radio broadcasts on two Jersey City stations.

DeLuca’s soccer began in his native Italy where he was a player captain for the U.S. Pattese Soccer Club. Once he arrived in America he founded the Jersey City Parks Soccer Team, serving as it’s coach and manager. An honorary president and life member of the Italian American Soccer League, he was one of the organization’s founders, then went on to become president and executive board member of the N.J. State Soccer Association.

A writer and publisher of the monthly N.J. State Soccer Association Bulletin, Enzo published the book Soccer negli Stati Uniti (Soccer in the United States) and also wrote weekly soccer columns for the Italian-language daily Il Progresso Italo Americano and was overseas correspondent for the Italian daily sports newspaper Tuttosport.

In his 34 years as a recreation supervisor for the Hudson County Parks Commission, Enzo DeLuca was able to encourage and guide youngsters and adults to the sport of soccer. He organized practices, created league schedules and conducted championship tournaments and was an organizer of annual indoor tournaments in the Jersey city area.