By Jasmine Caccamo-Aloisi
Long Island Soccer Legends are hard to come by, and the same can be said about the coaches and trainers that have trained, coached, and supported them on their journey; especially to the current Men’s World Cup being held in Qatar.
Born and bred on Long Island, US Men's National Team Defender Joe Scally graduated from Sachem High School where he played for NYCFC Academy. He then went on to be the second player from NYCFC Academy to sign with the first team. Joe currently plays for Borussia Mönchengladbach where he made 30 league appearances during his first Bundesliga season in 2021/22 and now remains a regular contributor this season.
Before all of his success, it was SUSA’s own Dan Kravitsky at KK Athletics who worked with Scally. Coach Dan trained Joe for 3 years before sending him off to try out for the New York City Football Club’s Academy. When sending him off, Kravitsky knew Joe’s ability to dominate positionally would take him to the next level.
“It’s just something you knew," Kravitsky said. "It’s easy to say now but back then when we were discussing things with coaches or players or scouts, Joe’s name always came up.”
Kravitsky currently coaches the SUSA Albertson 2007 Boys ECNL team, as well as boys in the 2012 and 2013 age groups. Dan values his players that continually show up to training and games with a high work ethic and attention to detail.
“Any player with the dream of bringing their game to the highest level, needs to embrace criticism as a gift,” Kravitsky says.
Whether it's learning a new position or continually improving their game, Dan finds that these are the players who will grow and ultimately make it to the highest level of soccer. As we have seen with Dan having coached Joe throughout his formative years, he is fluent in recognizing talent.
“This wealth of experience among the best players in the world is going to continue to bolster his recognition as a player to pay attention to,” Dan said.
With a background of 30 years of coaching and youth soccer development here on Long Island, Kravitsky says one of his goals is to sit in a professional stadium, and watch one of his former players play. Dan has that goal very close to accomplishment and cannot wait to visit Scally in Germany and sit in the stands cheering him on in the very near future.
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