Fabiano Honored As Coach of the Year

On Jan. 3, the Soccer Coaches Association of New Jersey named Jonathan Dayton High School soccer coach Felix Fabiano the Central 1 Sectional coach of the year. The award reflects how his leadership this year helped propel the Dayton Bulldogs Varsity Boys Soccer team to a co-championship in the North 2 Group 1 state tournament and to a 16-6 season. 

It also reflects his love of the game.

Coach Fabiano learned the game as a child, and played at Belleville high, as well as for the Wolves soccer team, which is based in the Belleville-Nutley area. He was a midfielder. 

He has coached now for almost 30 years as well, at Nutley High School, Madison High School and private clubs since the early 1980s. He has been a coach at Dayton since 1987 and has been the varsity coach since 1996. 

This is not the first year Coach Fabiano and the Dayton Bulldogs have seen some success. He pointed out that, "Our soccer program as been in the run [before]…in the last five years we have played three sectional finals and two semi-finals. We have made our presence felt, and let's not forget that we lost in the shootouts during the final of the section to Harrison three years ago on a very controversial referee decision, after we had dominated the game." 

But this year was different. The Dayton Bulldogs earned a state championship, albeit a co-championship. Still, once the team realized what they had done, they were happy with the result. 

Coach Fabiano described their reaction, stating, "At the end of the game it was a little weird. The players felt they had played well enough to deserve winning that game so they were a little disappointed, and while the other team was celebrating, we appeared lukewarm and somewhat somber. But it did not last long. On the bus, the players realized what we had accomplished and sang all the way home...and the celebration still continues."

The season as a whole was full of ups and downs, with the team having to overcome injuries that affected their performance. Fortunately, most of the players returned and were healthy for the playoffs, allowing them to play at a high level. 

Coach Fabiano described the season as "A good season turned into a magical season, but it is not a fairy tale kind of story. It was magical for the way it unfolded, for the emotions, for the inspirational way the guys played ever game, and for the great soccer they were able to showcase. It was not like winning the lottery, a one time chance."