Never inclined to take the wheel of a rally sports car, Alex Gelsomino has thoroughly enjoyed his view from the passenger seat as a professional co-driver. Rally co-driver Alex Gelsomino says he’s lucky to have had a nearly three-decade career in a sport that has allowed him to travel the world and given him the gift of meeting his wife. The 48-year-old started his professional journey at age 18 when he took a co-driver course in his hometown of Palermo, Sicily. He did his first rally race a couple of weeks later and spent the next three years learning the …

An All-American softball player in college, Maria Vallone is now excelling at a sport with an obscure past and a promising future. Like most people in the United States, Maria Vallone’s only experience with handball had been playing a little bit during gym class. Then, at age 25, she fell in love with the sport and ended up excelling at it. Vallone, now 30, plays left wing for the U.S. national women’s team. Her resume includes a team fourth place finish at the 2019 Pan American Games — the best result for an American team, men’s or women’s, in many …

Involved in multiple sports as a child, Stefania Constantini gradually forsook all others on her way to the upcoming Winter Olympics as a member of the Italian curling team. Italian national team curler Stefania Constantini grew up in Cortina d’Ampezzo, a mountain town well known for winter sports in Veneto’s southern Alps. As a little girl, she swam, played tennis, skied and even danced hip hop, but it was curling that stole her heart at age 8. “The moment I started playing curling, a spark ignited,” the 22-year-old says. “I began to get more and more passionate, and slowly I …

A premier defenseman on both sides of the Atlantic for more than a decade, Bob Nardella is continuing his stellar run in professional hockey as an assistant coach with the stateside team that gave him his start. After decades as a standout hockey defenseman and accomplished assistant coach, as well as more than 20 years as the owner of his own business, Bob Nardella has concluded that the surest path to success is as a team player. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a janitor or a VIP executive — you have to work together to be successful,” says the 53-year-old, …

A standout basketball and baseball player in high school and college, Jerry Colangelo became a multisport luminary thanks to inspiration drawn from his humble Italian roots in Chicago Heights. When Jerry Colangelo was 7 years old, he was given his first basketball, a simple act that ignited the fuse to an extraordinarily successful career in national and international sports. “I smelled the leather, and it was the beginning of a love affair that has lasted a lifetime,” Colangelo tells Fra Noi in a wide-ranging interview about his life and myriad achievements as a player, coach, administrator, owner and overall leader. …

A standout javelin thrower in college, Maura Fiamoncini did remarkably well during the Olympic trials while battling an injury that would have sidelined many others in her sport. Javelin thrower Maura Fiamoncini finished seventh at the U.S. Olympic trials in late June after gritting her teeth and muscling through a shoulder injury. A recent graduate of Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, Fiamoncini, 22, earned rave reviews for her performance from her coach, Kevin Donner. “Today may have been the most courageous effort of any athlete we have ever had,” Donner told local newspaper The Daily Item after the trials ended. Fiamoncini …

A veteran of the Ultimate Fighting Championship league, Roxanne Modafferi attributes her durability to her positive mental attitude. For mixed martial artist Roxanne Modafferi, it’s all about positive thinking. Nicknamed “The Happy Warrior,” the 38-year-old fights in the flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) based in Las Vegas, where she trains with the Syndicate team. She was ranked ninth in her division in June, with 25 wins, including four by knockout, and 19 losses, mostly by decision. She has appeared on two seasons of “The Ultimate Fighter,” a reality television series and mixed martial arts competition. Modafferi was …

After more than two decades as a college basketball coach, Fran Fraschilla  is sharing his wealth of expertise as an analyst for ESPN. Growing up the oldest of seven children in Brooklyn, New York, Fran Fraschilla was hooked on basketball at an early age, like most of his peers. What Fraschilla, now 62, didn’t envision as a youngster was that his glory days wouldn’t come on the basketball court, but as a college coach and later as a TV analyst. “I like to talk. I like to entertain. I love to explain basketball to fans on TV,” says Fraschilla, who …

A rising star in the race walking world until a leg injury sidelined him, Michael Mannozzi has battled back into contention thanks to an indomitable drive and the support of his family. Michael Mannozzi earned 17 national race walking titles from 2010-16, so one might think placing fifth at the 2021 USA 50K National Championships in February would be a somewhat unremarkable result for him. Not so, the 35-year-old says. “That race, for me, was in all ways a success,” he says. “That was so rewarding.” That’s because Mannozzi, now a religious affairs airman at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in …

A longtime special teams coordinator, John Bonamego recently ascended the NFL coaching ranks thanks to his dedication to teaching the fundamentals. After a long career as a special teams coordinator in the National Football League, John Bonamego says there is one thing he’s most proud of. “I have never had a previous relationship with the coaches I’ve worked for,” he says. “In every case, they found me. I was recommended and hired based on the merits of my work.” Bonamego, 57, was hired by the Los Angeles Rams in February 2020 as special teams coordinator and has since taken on …