At 79, a local legend is still getting his kicks

PHOTOS BY SCOTT FRIEDMAN Clockwise from top: Al Frank (r) goes over strategy with Phil Cook during Sunday's game at Dideriksen Park in East Brunswick. The two play on the over-40 team for the East Brunswick Soccer Club. Frank will turn 80 next year. Frank, 79, signals for a substitution during Sunday morning's game in the Central Jersey Friendship League. East Brunswick Soccer Club player Tony Sultana heads the ball. EAST BRUNSWICK - As one of the cofounders of the East Brunswick Soccer Club, Alois "Al" Frank taught hundreds of local kids the ins and outs of playing soccer.

Today, he is still inspiring players, only now they are a little bit older. But then so is he.

Frank will turn 80 next year, though one might not know it from watching him out on the soccer field or listening to the comments of his fellow players.

Frank is a midfielder for the East Brunswick men's over-40 soccer team, which plays neighboring towns each week in the Central Jersey Friendship League.

"He is the first one to come to practice, and he is always very positive," said John Ortizz, captain of the team.

"He's a very determined player," teammate Yakov Drantivy added.

According to player Tony Sultana, anytime someone takes the ball from Frank, he goes right after the guy to get it back. He never gives up.

Sultana has known Frank for over 10 years, and the two are good friends.

"He really loves the game. Sometimes he will call me and say, 'Tony, it's only raining a little, let's go play,' " Sultana said. "Some of the kids he coached are grown now and they come to our practice games. They all think he is amazing."

Frank is a legend in East Brunswick's soccer circles.

"Everybody knows him," said Ortizz. "He is the only coach to lead an East Brunswick team to the Eastern State Championship."

In 1982, Frank's team, the Atoms, beat the best soccer teams in New Jersey and then went on to beat the best from seven other states. He received a letter of gratitude from William Fox, mayor of East Brunswick at the time.

"No one did that before or since," Ortizz said. "Besides being really competitive, he is just a really nice guy."

Despite his record, Frank has always maintained the true meaning of the game.

"I was a strict coach, but I never let the kids forget that the game should be fun," he said. "They learn about camaraderie, respect and about life. Because in life, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, just like in soccer."

Another reason Frank believes soccer is great for kids is because the size of the player doesn't matter.

"They have to use their minds and their skills," he said.

Some of his players went on to play in college and two won full scholarships for their skills in the sport.

Tommy Coohill, a soccer coach who has long been involved with the East Brunswick Soccer Club, has known Frank for 30 years.

"He is just an incredible athlete. When I started playing with him he was in his 50s and I was in my 20s. He was really tough competition. He was a fabulous player," Coohill said.

Frank taught girls as well as boys, and was always a big advocate for the girls teams.

"In East Brunswick, we always put in the same amount of money for the girls team as the boys," Coohill said. "Not everyone wanted to do that, but Al was a big believer in that, and we produced some great women soccer players. Look at Heather O'Reilly."

It would be hard to imagine driving through the township on a Saturday morning and not seeing the local parks filled with budding soccer players. But when Frank helped to co-found the East Brunswick league, along with John Carver, Tony Dennigan, Marvin Stiener, Timbor Horvath and Tom Gallagher, there was not so much interest in the sport.

"It was originally called the Raritan Valley Soccer Club," Frank recalled. "When we started, there were only 14 teams. Now there are 200."

A few years ago, the East Brunswick Soccer Club gave Frank an award to acknowledge his longstanding contributions to the organization.

Frank began playing soccer when he was 9, in his hometown of Innsbruck, Austria. He eventually played on a second division team, which is like a farm team, in Europe.

Frank came to the U.S. in 1951, first living in New Brunswick and then moving to East Brunswick two years later. At that point, there wasn't any time for soccer.

"The first five or six years, I had to go to night school to learn English. I am a plumber by trade, but I couldn't do that kind of work because I couldn't speak the language. I ended up working in a factory," he said.

Soccer was not played much in the U.S. at that time.

"Everybody looked at me a little funny when they saw me playing, but to me it looked a little funny to play football with an oval ball," Frank said.

Eventually he started playing with some local clubs, like the Union Lancers and the Messinas. From there, he went on to help found East Brunswick's club.

Al and his wife, Rose, have been married over 50 years. They had three children and now have three grandchildren.

Rose said she did not expect her husband to be playing soccer at 79.

"I'm glad he is in such good shape, but I worry," she said. Frank had a heart attack in 1986 and another in 2005.

"He has four stents. Whenever we go to the cardiologist he always asks, 'So, are you still kicking?' " Rose said with a laugh.

Soccer isn't Frank's only passion. He said he is a better skier than a soccer player. In the winter, he likes to drive up to Hunter Mountain.

"The mountains here aren't as long or as steep as in Austria, but they are groomed better," he said.

He is also a great gardener.

"He has a green thumb," Rose said. "Everything grows for him."

Although Frank has been playing soccer for 70 years, he is never bored with the sport.

"It always feels good to play. It's like a chess game: you have to use a lot of strategy."

During Sunday morning's game at Dideriksen Park, Frank took a break after playing for a while.

"Go! Go! Good play," he shouted to his teammates.

"He always encourages us," Ortizz said with a smile. "He's still a coach."