From a neighborhood rivalry to an international competition: the Santa Rosalia Tournament, born among Bensonhurst’s shopkeepers, is now an event that weaves together sport, memory, and community. The 2025 edition kicks off this Saturday, August 23, at 8 a.m. at the Verrazzano Sports Complex.
There is a stretch of 18th Avenue in Bensonhurst that every summer smells of panelle and cannoli, echoes with Sicilian music, and lights up with flags and festive decorations. It is the Feast of Santa Rosalia, patron saint of Palermo, celebrated in New York since the 1970s. Among the food stalls, processions, and performances, one event has become the sporting symbol of the celebration: the Santa Rosalia Tournament. A soccer competition that began as a pastime among friends and neighborhood merchants and, decade after decade, transformed into an arena capable of drawing international stars, generations of fans, and the entire Italian American community.
In the beginning, it was butchers, barbers, pizzaioli, and small business owners who gathered improvised teams, eager to compete for a trophy made more of pride than technique. But over the years, that street soccer grew: today it is played in a 7v7 format, with both “open” and “over 40” divisions, nearly one hundred players on the field, and talent arriving from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, South America, and even Italy.
The tournament has featured names that have made history in American soccer: Carlos Llamosa, Mike Windischmann, Carlos Jaguande, and Giovanni Savarese, now an MLS coach. The fields of Bensonhurst have also welcomed Chris Armas, Giorgio Chinaglia as a special guest, and prominent figures from both local and international soccer, such as the late Joe Barone, former general manager of Fiorentina. There have even been surprising cameos, like NBA legend and former Brooklyn Nets coach Steve Nash, who joined the game with enthusiasm.
Behind the scenes, the story of Anthony Catanzaro captures the spirit of the tournament: from young spectator to 14-year-old player in 1982, to organizer and guardian of the tradition. “It’s tangible, instead of watching something on TV,” he emphasizes. And indeed, here the match is not just sport: it is a collective embrace, a way to remember one’s origins, strengthen ties, and pass on to new generations the pride of a neighborhood that does not forget its roots.
Today, the Santa Rosalia Soccer Tournament is much more than a sporting event: it is an authentic piece of Brooklyn, a tradition that endures and renews itself, a bridge between Palermo and New York, between past and future. Because in those matches, through sweat, cheering, and friendship, lives the very spirit of the feast: a celebration of community, sport, and an identity that continues to shine under the lights of 18th Avenue.
