Rocco Montano, 88, honored athlete

WHEN ERWIN Antoni enrolled at Girard College in 1932, the school athletic hero was Rocco Montano.

Rocky was the star of the baseball, basketball and soccer teams. In fact, during his years at Girard, the school never lost a soccer game.

"He was like an idol," Erwin said. "We all looked up to him. He was one of those guys you wanted to be like."

After Girard, Rocky went on to play minor league baseball in the Phillies system and played soccer for area clubs. After his playing days, he coached and officiated soccer and baseball at high schools and colleges for more than 30 years.

He received many honors, including induction into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1995.

The soccer and baseball fields at Girard College are named for him.

Rocky died Oct. 24. He had turned 88 on Oct. 7. He lived in Prospect Park, Delaware County, but formerly lived in Glassboro, N.J., and had grown up in South Philadelphia.

He worked for many years in the insurance business and was an Army veteran of World War II.

"He was admired by many for his ability to stick to what he believed in," said Erwin, who also played soccer for Girard. "He was honest, and a gentleman all the way."

At Girard, Rocky was a member of the 1935 and 1936 soccer teams that continued a 10-year unbeaten streak.

"Simon Gratz finally beat Girard in 1937 - after I graduated," he once said.

After he graduated, he played Philadelphia First Division soccer with Angora and Wissinoming, and was signed by the Phillies.

As a catcher and outfielder, he played for minor league teams at Utica, N.Y., Wilmington, Del., and Concord, N.C. At Utica, he played under Eddie Sawyer, who went on to manage the Phillies' "Whiz Kids," winners of the 1950 National League pennant.

Rocky coached the West Catholic High School soccer team for 10 years.

One of the highlights of his career was officiating at the NCAA soccer championship game between Howard and Saint Louis in 1974.

Rocky was born in Philadelphia to Theresa and Frank Montano. His father died when he was 7 and he was raised by his mother and stepfather, Angelo Nobile.

He married the former Helen Gallo in 1943. She died last July 15.

He was an insurance salesman for Metropolitan Insurance Co. and Protected Home Life Insurance, which later became National Guardian.

Rocky was a past president of the National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association. He was a member of the United States Soccer Federation and assigned officials to soccer games as an official of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference.

He officiated soccer finals for the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.

In the '40s, he coached the Philadelphia Hummers, a soccer team made up of Girard College grads, including Erwin Antoni.

"We had a lot of all-Americans on that team," he once said. "The team broke up in 1945 after a lot of the kids had gone off to war."

In baseball, Rocky umpired high school and college games and was a member of the Philadelphia Baseball Hot Stovers Association.

In an interview in 1995, Rocky said, "I hate to admit it, but today's players are better than when I played. They are bigger and they are taught better. They have greater skills."

He is survived by a daughter, Marion Ruggiano; a son, Frank; a brother, Angelo; a sister, Angelina; three grandchildren; three great-grandchildren and a great-great-grandchild.

He donated his body to the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. *