A soccer goalkeeper might be the loneliest position in sport.
Separated by some 50 yards from your nearest teammate for stretches on end, one can hardly fault the folks who stand as the last line of defense on the pitch for allowing their minds to wander from time to time.
Greater Sudbury Soccer Club (GSSC) U16 Impact shot-stopper Noah Palladino already had good reason for the occasional daydream or two given his post. Then, he discovered another.
As luck would have it, his Sudbury crew would play the bulk of their 2024 home games at the venerable venue that is Queen's Athletic Field in the downtown core, site of an overwhelming majority of the soccer matches that form the basis of stories that are still shared from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
That era would run smack dab into the very wheelhouse of one Eddy Palladino, one of the most gifted scorers ever to grace our fair city — and grandfather to the young man who would love the chance to make a diving save and deny his Sudbury Sports Hall of Fame family member another strike.
Throw in the fact that both Noah's father, Dan, and uncle, Rob, rose through the soccer ranks to prominence on that same stretch of grass — or what's left of the grass — and one can sense the aura of a "Field of Dreams" of another kind.
"The fact that we're playing on the exact same field that my nonno (Italian for “grandfather”) and my dad played on, I think that's pretty cool," said Noah, a Grade 10 student at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School. "They were in the exact same shoes that I am now. Fifty years ago, my grandpa played on this field. It's crazy to think."
Born a few years after the passing of the man who helped lead the 1964 Italia Flyers to an Eastern Canadian title (in a game in which Eddy scored but broke his leg on the same play), Noah would have to rely on the memory of others to share the images of his grandfather's legacy.
"When I was around the age of nine or 10, my dad started telling me stories about Nonno and how he played soccer," said the 15-year-old. "My dad always wore No. 7 and so did my nonno. That's when I started to realize that my family is really big in the sport, and I wanted to keep it going."
Taking in one of his son's outings this summer, Dan Palladino, too, was struck by the setting and its significance to his family.
"I was sitting watching him (Noah) and it suddenly hit me," Palladino said. He would also suit up with the Italia Flyers and remain involved with a very competitive Sudbury Men's Soccer League through much of the 1980s and 1990s.
"To know that my father suited up and played at Queen's when it was a dirt field and they would have thousands of people in the stands is something."
Eddy was 29 when his soccer injury prompted him to hang up the cleats. He captained the Flyers during the team’s rise to prominence, which was thanks in part to the infusion of talent that arrived in the form of Ferruccio Deni and cohorts through the golden days of Sudbury soccer.
Following in his father’s footsteps onto the pitch, Palladino was recruited to join the Flyers by then Cardinals' soccer coach Rob Gallo.
"He recruited me to play for the Italia Flyers men's team," said Dan. "I sat the bench and learned. I was happy with that and my father was ecstatic. I was with his beloved Italia Flyers."
Truth be told, Queen's Athletic Field is no longer the Holy Grail of settings for the Beautiful Game in the Nickel City. That torch has been passed to the turf that adorns the James Jerome Sports Complex north pitch.
Still, there is something about Queen's that conjures visions for anyone above the age of 50 who has lived in Sudbury much of their lives.
"When we played Ontario Cup at Queen's, the field was an advantage," Palladino, a midfielder throughout his soccer career, said. "We played on this bumpy, lumpy field and they're not used to playing on it.”
Noah says the pitch at James Jerome is a far cry from the “lumpy, bumpy” surface of Queen’s, as described by his father.
"James Jerome is a better field, in my opinion, just with the conditions of the field and the age of Queen's," Noah said.
It's also drastically different in terms of understanding how to play the game, especially as a keeper.
"If a through ball comes through on the turf, you might have to react quick to come out and clear it or collect it," said the teenage keeper. "The ball rolls faster. Also, the bounce on the turf compared to the grass is way bigger."
All things that a soccer goaltender in 2024 must be mindful of when he then switches over to Queen's Athletic Field, assuming his mind has not already drifted to a man who helped put Sudbury on the soccer map a half century ago.
Randy Pascal is a sportswriter in Greater Sudbury. Pursuit is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
