Bend it Like Piperea
NEIRAD enilno edition
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Hidden behind the former Iron Curtain of Romania, Nicolae Piperea has emerged as the head soccer coach of the Darien Blue Wave. In his second year, he led the Darien Varsity Soccer Team to a record of 2-9-4 this season.
At first, some may think this record is really not all that great, and it isn’t until one learns the team history. Former team leaders were said to be less than stellar. Piperea had his work cut out for him. And Piperea has made significant strides. If one looks beyond the numbers, they will find a fascinating tale of pain, ambition, success, and sacrifice. This is the story of Nicolae Piperea.
Piperea was born in Romania in the Communist era. Piperea’s father was a strict man. His father valued education over all else; he did everything in his power to keep young Nicolae focused on his studies.
However, Piperea soon discovered his burgeoning soccer talent. Friends told him about a club called Sportul Studentesc. He began playing on the left wing. (Piperea has a natural left foot) At age 14, Sportful Studentesc won the nationals. The entire left side of the team, Piperea among them, was imported to Romania’s U19 national team. He played for a few years until a career-ending injury sidelined his career.
“I was going for a 50-50 ball against a man that I had known from the military. I didn’t want to go full out against him, so I slid underneath for the ball, but he came in knees first and smashed my head,” Piperea said.
The result was that Piperea shattered his cheekbone in four places. The injury kept him out of play for several months. The scar still remains, lingering just to the right of his eye on the right side of his face.
Piperea first came to the United States to watch the World Cup. During his visit, he noticed how little importance soccer had in America.
“When I first came to this country, my friend pointed out how small soccer was in America. He opened a newspaper and showed me the page the MLS (Major League Soccer) was on. It was only a half-inch. He told me soccer wasn’t really important in America. Here it was all about football and baseball,” DHS's socceer coach said.
Piperea did not let this grim prognosis dim his grand plans. He envisioned a ways to help build soccer into a powerhouse sport in his adopted homeland.
Piperea had moved onto to the next stage of his soccer career. He took a job with the YMCA teaching kids as young as pre-kindergarten how to play the game he loved so much. Soon Piperea decided to get a green card and stay here to coach the next generation of American soccer talent. Luckily, he opted to start the second stage of his career in Fairfield County.
“It was a big sacrifice to make, Piperea said. “I had to leave my family behind in Romania.”
At that time Piperea had a wife and baby daughter, but he kept working to raise money for his family to immigrate to America. He soon landed a job as a trainer here at DHS. But he did not stay long. He was quickly offered a head coaching position on the Greenwich Girl’s Soccer Team. Greenwich had been up to that point a sub-par team. Piperea quickly changed the team’s sagging record. He led Greenwich to a winning season for the first time in many years.
That success caught the attention of the Darien Athletic Department. Piperea was offered a job coaching the struggling boys’ soccer team in 2005.
“He’s a good coach and good teacher. I’ve had him for the past three seasons. Nicolae has completely improved my game as a soccer player,” Ben Burke said. Burke was the only freshmen to make varsity. “Coach is very supportive. He tells me just to be myself and play my game.”
Piperea’s passion for soccer is expected to shine in 2008. Fourteen returning seniors will combine with a powerful junior class. This fiery Romanian coach might even lead Darien to states. Each bit of soccer success helping Nicolae Piperea reach his greater goal of bringing soccer to the foothold of American sports.
