Salvatore Raccuglia, founder of Connetquot Little League and Central Suffolk Junior Sports Association, dies at 87

Salvatore Raccuglia wanted every child to feel they belonged on the field. When a family couldn’t afford equipment, he arranged for the youngster to come home from school with his son, then bought the helmets, shoulder pads or baseball gloves needed to play.

"Your friends don’t need to know about it. Don’t say anything," Steven Raccuglia, of Ronkonkoma, recalled his father telling him.

Raccuglia, founder of the Connetquot Little League and Central Suffolk Junior Sports Association, died on Sept. 6 of natural causes. The Ridge resident was 87.

‘A place to play’

Born May 23, 1939, in Kansas City, Missouri, Raccuglia worked as a computer operator for Sperry and Hutchinson in Manhattan.

After moving his family to Long Island in the late 1960s, Raccuglia founded the Central Suffolk Junior Football Association, helping fill a gap in organized youth sports in the area.

"He didn’t wanna see kids on the street," said Michael Passantino, of Center Moriches, a former player and Raccuglia’s son-in-law. "That was his biggest thing."

Raccuglia served as the association’s president and later expanded it to include soccer, eventually developing it into the Central Suffolk Junior Sports Association. The programs drew children from the Connetquot, Sachem, Central Islip and Sayville school districts, family and friends said.

He also coached PAL football, leading the Long Island Raiders to a championship, before coaching junior varsity football and varsity soccer at Connetquot High School, where he led the JV football team to an undefeated season, Steven Raccuglia recalled.

Coaching also meant looking out for children who were struggling off the field, his sons said. When one boy wanted to quit football after his father died, Raccuglia began picking him up for practices and games, his son Stewart Raccuglia, of Center Moriches, recalled.

"It touched the whole team," Stewart Raccuglia said. "We kind of rallied behind him after one of our players lost their dad."

Joe Tedesco, a former player and close family friend, remembered the excitement of receiving uniforms and stepping onto newly created fields.

"We may not have understood how much work, vision, and dedication went into creating the league, but we knew how fortunate we were to be part of it," Tedesco, of Holbrook, said. "It gave us a place to play, compete, grow, and feel that we belonged.

Family at heart

Raccuglia fit coaching around his Manhattan job, returning home about 4 a.m. and sleeping until it was time to coach, Steven Raccuglia said. Between practices and league meetings, he studied library books on football and soccer at the kitchen table, looking for new plays and ways to teach.

He kept his family close, constantly involving them in the work that meant so much to him.

On weekends, the children put up soccer nets, painted fields and collected trash after the crowds went home. Their father insisted they leave the grounds as clean as they found them, his sons said.

"It never felt like it took him away from the family because he involved all of us in all of the work that he did," Scott Raccuglia said.

At home, Raccuglia was an avid gardener whose landscaping earned house of the month and house of the year honors, Scott Raccuglia said. He also went all out decorating for Halloween and Christmas, becoming what Scott Raccuglia called a "master decorator."

Passing it on

Raccuglia’s approach to youth sports stayed with former player Chris Paris, of East Rockaway. Paris later helped run the East Rockaway Raiders youth football program, carrying forward Raccuglia’s belief that every child deserved a place to play.

"We try to not turn away anyone, regardless of whether they can afford to pay registration fees or not," Paris said. "We do whatever we can to make it a great experience for the kids and the parents."

Tedesco still feels a sense of pride and gratitude when he drives past the fields where the league began.

"Being part of the league gave us memories and relationships that have lasted a lifetime," Tedesco said. "His legacy lives on every time another child steps onto one of those fields."

In addition to his wife, Sara Raccuglia, of Ridge, Raccuglia is survived by three sons; daughters Susan Arena, of Port St. Lucie, Florida, and Stephanie Passantino, of Center Moriches; eight grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter. A funeral Mass was celebrated Sept. 14 at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Ronkonkoma