Our History

Below is some historical data about the NJFOA-North:

  • NJFOA Past Presidents
  • Requirements for William Dioguardi Award 
  • William Dioguardi Award Winners
  • Requirements for the Vincent J. Rosati Award
  • James Rosati Award
  • Distinguished Honorary Life Members

NJFOA Past Presidents:
NameYear/Years Served
Bill Gaynor1936
Harry Baldwin1937-1938
James McIntyre1939-1940
Bill Hazelton1941-1942
John Sheps1943-1944
J. Walter Coffee1945-1946
Ray Hess1947-1948
John Tomasko1949-1950
Joe Frederici1951
Vincent Young1952
Ed Epstein1953
Joe Choborda1954
Bob Reilly1955-1956
Joe Comba1957-1958
Marty Conlon1959
Rudy Sandmeier1960
Dom Cuccinello1961
Peter Baubles1962
Harry Delorenzo1963
Charlie Yennie1964
Bill McDonald1965
John Tomczyk1966
Harry Norwick1967
Frank Sayre1968
John Marino1969
Edgar Cartotto1970
Ken Allerman1971
Jerry Belmonte1972
Clovis Epperly1973
Frank Biviano1974
Lou Bartha1975
Joe C. Paradise1976
Frank Catale1977
Jack Taylor1978
John A. Pasquale1979
Sam Haggan1980
Bill Dioguardi1981
Ralph Lamo1982
Gene Schmid1983
Ed Strohmeyer1984
Gene Sparta1985
Clary DiChiara1986
Frank Martone1987
Bill Petty1988
Alan Berge1989
Larry Sciancalepore1990
Andrew Pecora1991
Bill Clarke1992
Tony Mariconda1993
Rich Bencivenga1994
Blaine Papaccia1995
Angelo Frannicola1996
Ernie Neal1997
Al Ilaria1998
Kay Campbell1999
Jerry Hughes2000
Paul D'Ascensio2001
Phil DiDomenico2002
Frank Migliaccio2003
Ira Yorn2004
Peter Ciriello2005
Frank Valenzano2006
James Cook2007
James Conte2008
Tom DePoortere2009
Joe Belger2010
James Tolomeo2011
Ed Perretti2012
Joe Trivisonno2013
Al Regner2014
Hank Teel2015
Rich DeLorenzo2016
Peter DeFranco2017
Gil Bragg2018
Jack Iliff2019
Vincent Orrei2020
Al Taliaferro2021
Jerry Picazio2022
Bob Masucci2023

Requirements for William Dioguardi Award:
Recipient is not a member of NJFOA - North Chapter.

  • Recipient must have distinguished themselves, their performance, dedication and service to the game of Football.
  • They must be from an accredited NJSIAA school.
  • Recipients may only receive the award once.

William Dioguardi Award Recipients:

Don Nolan, Announcer, Midland Park – 1990
Lou Rettino, Coach, Union – 1992
Bill Regan, Coach, Delbarton – 1993
Manilo Boverini, AD, Passaic – 1994
John Allen, Coach, Seton Hall – 1995
Lou Paragallo, AD, A. L. Johnson – 1996
Frank Bottone, Coach, New Providence – 1997
Bill Regan, Coach, Morris Knolls – 1998
Ron SanFillipo, AD, Caldwell – 1999
Gary Kehler, Coach/AD, Westfield – 2000
Tom Pengitore, AD, West Essex – 2001
Vincent Ascolese, Coach, North Bergen – 2002
Joe Walsh, AD, Seton Hall Prep – 2003
Frank Dawson, AD, Garfield – 2004
Robert Finamore, AD, Manchester – 2005
Joe Lennon, AD, DePaul – 2006
Pat Tirico, AD, Lodi – 2007
Don Smolyn, AD, Lenape – 2008
Sharon Hughes, AD, PCTI – 2009
Anthony Mongilia, AD, Dwight Morrow – 2010
Ed Sadlock, Coach, Cedar Grove – 2011
Tony Karcich, AD/Coach – 2012
Ronald Anello, Ramapo – 2013
Craig Nielsen, Coach, Pascack Valley – 2014
Denis Nelson, AD, River Dell – 2017
Brian Dunn, Coach, Old Tappan – 2018
Nick Delcalzo, Coach, Hasbrouck Heights – 2019
Robert Hampton, Coach, Lincoln - 2021
Chris Brown, AD, Park Ridge - 2022
Rich Hansen, Sr., Coach/AD, St. Peter's Prep - 2023

Requirements for the Vincent J. Rosati Award:

  • Recipient must be in good standing and current with NJFOA North Chapter.
  • Have served either as a past Officer, on the Executive Board, or have been on a committee.
  • Nominated candidates remain in consideration for three consecutive years, may only receive the award once and this may not be given annually.

In its inception, the committee was founded as the “Program Committee” in 1984 and renamed “President's Committee.” The program was then named the present “Awards Committee” in 1999 with its first Chairman being Andy Picora in 1990.

James Rosati Award Recipients:

Joe DiGiore 1990
Sam Haggan 1991
Edgar Cartotto 1992
Jack Davidson 1993
John Pasquale 1994
Andrew Pecora 1995
Ralph Lamo 1996
Frank Martone 1997
Frank Catale 1998
Al Hynes 1999
Ed Strohmeyer 2000
Pat Passero 2001
Angelo Frannicola 2002
Dick Matarante 2003
Blaine Papaccio 2004
Joe Clarizio 2005
Gene Schmid 2006
Ed Perretti 2007
Frank Migliaccio 2008
Jerry Cannata 2009
Rich Bencivenga 2010
Frank Valenzano 2011
Robert Csigi 2012
Al Taliafero 2013
Robert Masucci 2014
Jim Conte 2015
Jack Behnken 2016
Bill Magna 2017
Pete DeFranco 2018
James Tolomeo 2019
Joseph Belger 2021
Jerry Picazio 2022
Carmine Picardo 2023

Distinguished Honorary Life Members:
The members listed below have distinguished themselves by their performance, dedication and service to the game of Football and to the NJFOA – North Chapter:
  • Ed Camp
  • Frank Catale
  • Ernest Finizio
  • Tom Hill
  • Al Hynes
  • Jim Miller
  • Robert Lynch
  • Lou Nazzaro
  • Jerry Belmonte
  • Frank Spano
  • Andrew Pecora
50 Year Plus Members:
  • Pat Passero
  • Dave Brody
  • Jerry Cannata
  • Peter DeFranco
  • Larry Scianclepore