Shoreline Adult Soccer League, Inc.

Jose Manuel "Sammy" Calvo 16th March, 195111th February, 2001

It is with huge regret and sadness that we have to report that Joe Calvo passed away on Sunday, 11th February, 2001 after a sudden heart attack. He was aged 49 years old. CLICK HERE FOR THE OFFICIAL OBITUARY Joe was affiliated with the North Branford Soccer Club of the SASL where he had been manager as well as player for many years. North Branford joined the SASL in its formative years and Joe was involved as a manager since that time. He was officially still the manager upto his untimely death. As manager of North Branford he regularly attended SASL meetings and was highly respected for his contributions. Joe was fanatical about The Beautiful Game of soccer. He was passionately involved at all levels. He had played soccer all his life but he was also a coach at the youth level, coaching his three sons for many years. With more and more talk about Over-40 soccer in Connecticut, Joe was determined to keep playing on the North Branford Over-30 team even as the club had just formed an Over-40 team. Not only was he still supremely fit and a skilled, crucial member of the Over-30 team he managed, his dream was to play on the same team as his oldest son when Joe "Junior" turned 30-years old. Joe "Junior" turned 30 during mid 2000 and was eligible to play on his dad's team in the fall of that year. It was a moment of immeasurable pride to Joe "Senior." Joe was excited about the new SASL season about to start in April, 2001. He was looking forward to playing with his son in the Over-30s. He was beginning the annual ritual of "getting fit" ready to play outdoors by participating in his team's Sunday morning indoor scrimmages in the town's school gymnasiums in the winter. It was at one of these sessions when Joe suffered a sudden heart attack from which he was ultimately unable to recover. It came as a complete shock to all who knew him. He did not smoke or drink and he jogged frequently. Joe was fit and active and he had no prior history of heart problems. If it is of any comfort to all of those that loved him, he died while playing The Beautiful Game that he had loved so passionately all his life. As an active member of the youth soccer club in North Branford, Joe was instrumental in getting the town to build four new adult-size soccer pitches to accommodate the growing number of youth taking up the sport. Owing to his efforts and dedication to promoting the sport in North Branford and his persistence in getting the town to build the additional facilities, Northford Park, in the north end of the town, will be renamed in Joe's honour. Joe was born in Soutelinho da Raia, Chaves in Portugal. He was the current Vice-President of Paving Operations for The Empire Paving Company of Northford, Connecticut where he had worked for 32 years. He was also a board member of the North Branford (youth) Soccer Club and a coach of the South Central Connecticut Premier Soccer Organization in Hamden, Connecticut. He died just one month short of his 50th birthday. The wake was at Washington Memorial Funeral Home in North Haven on Wednesday, 14th February, 2001. The funeral services were on Thursday, 15th February, 2001 at St. Augustine's Church, North Branford, followed with the burial in All Saints Cemetery, North Haven. Joe will be sadly missed as a valuable member of the SASL as a player and a manager. Our prayers and deepest sympathies go to his family from all of us in the brotherhood of the Shoreline Adult Soccer League. CLICK HERE FOR EULOGIES FROM SASL PLAYERS AND MANAGERS Joe, from all of us here in the Shoreline Adult Soccer League, past and present, rest in peace.