By RICH FISHER
Contributing Editor
Nick Angiolino is part of a family that has turned a personal tragedy into joy for others. His mom and dad, James and Nicole, lost their 2-year-old son Joey to a rare disease in July, 2010. Shortly thereafter they used that loss as a springboard to found Joey’s Little Angels.
The organization runs a massive toy drive each holiday season that has donated 60,000 toys to 35 pediatric hospitals nationwide, and has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to families over the past 15 years.
Wearing number 6 in honor of his late brother Joey, Nick Angiolino has been the midfield engine that has helped Notre Dame’s soccer team to a 12-1-2 start this season. Courtesy photo
In recent years Nick has taken a bigger part in the effort for JLA, which has adopted the motto “Motivation, Perseverance, Strength.”
It’s kind of fitting, since Angiolino has those same qualities as a senior center-midfielder for the boys soccer team in Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville.
“Nick Angiolino is the kind of leader every team dreams of,” Irish coach Bryan Fisher said. “His presence inspires those around him to work harder, care more, and approach every challenge with integrity and heart. I am incredibly proud of the young man he is. He represents all that is good in high school athletics.”
Angiolino, whose dad is an Irish assistant, has a strong soccer background. He started the Hamilton Township rec program before James formed a travel team with the Hibernian Club. With help from former Rutgers/University of St. Louis/NDHS head coach Dan Donigan, the club morphed into a higher-level Hibernian PDA program.
“He’s definitely one of the best coaches I’ve played for and been around,” Angiolino said of Donigan. “He’s been everywhere with the college level, high school level, semi-pro and pro level. He has some of the best experiences I’ve seen and being with him, learning from him helped me a lot.
“With his college background he knows how everything works. He’s just that guy. I just take everything I can from what I’ve learned from him.”
During his freshman year at Notre Dame, a preseason injury to a senior landed Angiolino a spot in the starting lineup as a center-back.
“It was pretty intimidating at first, going against 18-year-olds when I was 15,” Angiolino said. “It was hard thinking about it at first but once we got into the season I thought ‘It is what is. I just gotta keep going.’”
And he did. Angiolino is a four-year starter, moving up to center-midfield last year and remaining there this season.
“I played center-back and center-mid all my life,” said Nick, who hopes to play in college next year. “They were the positions I switched on and off from so it wasn’t really an adjustment (moving up.”
Angiolino primarily defended his first two seasons. Last year he had to play in the back and up front and collected three goals and seven assists. This season, entering an Oct. 16 game with Steinert, he had a team-high 11 assists to go with one goal.
“It’s great to score goals, but having assists is just as good,” Angiolino said.
His efforts helped Notre Dame to a 12-1-2 start and an undefeated record against New Jersey competition. They have survived losing mega-goal scorer Will Lynch by having numerous players step up.
“We have high expectations,” Angiolino said. “What we’re doing now has been pretty good. We have a couple more things to figure out but other than that it’s gone well.”
Much of the success can be traced to Angiolino, who mans the most important position on the field other than goalie.
Nick Angiolino helps a batter take his cuts during a Mercer Miracle League game. Courtesy photo
“Playing in the midfield, he not only controls the flow of the game but also uplifts everyone around him with his energy, effort and encouragement,” Fisher said. “Nick leads by example – he is a great teammate, passionate about giving back through community service, grounded in his faith, and deeply devoted to his family.”
It is an extremely close family bonded by the loss of Joey. Nick was just 3 when his little brother passed away and a bit too young to understand the impact. But with his parents tending to their young son at Duke – which specialized in his rare genetic disease known as Hurler’s Syndrome – Nick knew something was up.
“I kind of realized a little bit what was going on,” he said. “My parents were in North Carolina for six months to be with my brother. I was young but it was kind of connecting the dots. I was bouncing around with my family; I was with my grandparents for a while.”
As he got older, Angiolino began to understand his family’s loss, but was able to experience the joy of new siblings when twins Olivia and Matthew were born. They are now eighth-graders at St. Gregory the Great Academy, Hamilton Square, and both wear number 6 on their uniforms along with Nick to honor Joey’s April 6 birthday.
“It’s hard knowing that I did lose a brother,” Nick said. “At the same time my parents did turn a bad thing into a good thing, I’d rather look at it like that. Although it was a negative experience for me and my family, they turned it into a positive and they help other sick children around us.”
Much of that was accomplished due to their dedication to the Lord, as the Angiolinos attend both St. Gregory the Great and St. Raphael-Holy Angels Parish, Hamilton.
“Faith does play a big role in this,” Angiolino said. “I think faith has a lot to do with what me and my family do. It’s helped very deeply.”
Nick, who has a grade score of 88, is a member of ND’s Catholic Athletes for Christ. And while he cannot spend as much time as he would like with Sean Clancy’s group, he does try and budget his time between CAC and JLA.
“I’m really focused on helping my parents now that I’m older,” he said. “But I try to stay involved with CAC when I can.”