By Bill Riccio, Jr.
The West Haven sports community – one of the tightest-knit anywhere – sustained another body blow two weeks ago, with the sudden passing of Westie par excellence Michael Violano. “Vio” as he was called throughout his life was the epitome of the hometown boy who gave back to his city.
Most recently the owner of Vio’s on Campbell Avenue, where he sold sports gear, uniforms and was well known for his embroidery work and specialized tee shirts, Violano gave his entire life to a city he loved, and it started from an early age.
This writer knew Violano from an early age when he was in junior high school (as it was called back then). He was part of a Blohm Street group of kids that got together with kids from other neighborhoods and played games – any game. Baseball, street hockey, ice hockey at Morse Park in the days when an earthen rink was flooded in the winter, neighborhood games of football at Painter Park – any game to keep active.
He was friends with relatives of mine who lived on Noble Street, and it was quite easy to see he was a kid driven to excellence in anything he put his mind to do. Goaltending in hockey and playing first base in baseball were two passions – and the way he played both positions, one skill set lent itself to the other.
By the time Vio had hit high school, he was ready to make his mark in three sports, soccer, hockey, and baseball and that he did in spades!
He played soccer for Elliot Marnell, hockey for Art Crouse, and baseball for Whitey Piurek. And, to my recollection by the time he graduated in 1975, he was the most recent three-sport captain in West Haven history. There have not been too many since in an era of specialization and one-sport athletes playing the same game all year.
While at West Haven he made several All-District League teams, All-Area teams and an All-State team or two. The goaltending skills, and his soccer playing came in handy at first base in the spring. He was a master of the stretch for an out on a tight play, including making the splits when he thought it necessary.
Though he was a “flashy” player, it came not out of a desire to make himself standout, it came from a deep desire to hone his skills and be the best player he could be. At times he was a man playing among boys.
Once his high school days were over, coaching was in Vio’s blood, and he was good at it. Intense, a good teacher, and he was good at it. For the next four decades, Vio made his mark as a coach, and he did it the old-fashioned way – he taught. Teaching coaches, those who strive to impart fundamental skills on their players are a dying breed.
Vio’s hockey teams were fundamentally sound in all facets of the game, and, in many ways, he emulated the legendary Art Crouse in his approach to the game and his players.
When word came of his sudden death, one could only grieve for the loss of such an outstanding individual. Vio is the third this year: Ed McCarthy and George Chambrelli were lost in 2024. An era in West Haven athletics is beginning to fade into history.
We send our condolences to Vio’s family. His legacy will live on in the players he coached and mentored. He was one of a kind, and we will mis his ready smile and kind words whenever we saw him..
Requiescat in pace.