‘Coach Bano’ remembered for his passion

By STEPHANIE PORTER-NICHOLS/Staff

A coach who shared his life’s passion with hundreds of young people died early Sunday morning in downtown Marion, apparently the victim of a tragic accident.
According to the Marion Police Department, Eric Scott Albano, a 35-year-old Marion man, died after falling through a storefront plate-glass window on the 100 block of East Main Street, just west of Macado’s restaurant. The MPD reported receiving the emergency call at 1:09 a.m. and upon arrival, a police department statement said, officers found Albano had sustained a severe laceration from the fall. He received medical attention on the scene, and the Marion Life Saving Crew transported him to Smyth County Community Hospital, where he died.
On Monday, the police department was continuing its investigation and requested that anyone with additional information contact the MPD at (276) 783-8145 or http://www.marionpd.net.
By early afternoon Sunday, flowers, Marion Senior High School sports memorabilia and, perhaps most fittingly, soccer balls created an impromptu memorial at the site of Albano’s fall. The balls carried handwritten messages of gratitude for the work of the man affectionately nicknamed Coach Bano.
Monday, Dr. Jim Gates, who coached the boys’ soccer team with Albano for many seasons, declared, “Eric’s true passion was soccer.”
It was a passion he tried to share with young athletes in ways that would enhance their lives.
Gates explained that as a player Albano was intense and practiced and played hard. In turn, Gates said, “That’s what he expected from his players.” For Albano, his fellow coach said, the special players were the ones who practiced hard.
In addition to hard work, Gates said, Albano worked to instill in the team members that “when you’re out there, you’re playing for your teammates, not your mother or girlfriend…. You’re playing for the guy beside you.”
Each season Albano demonstrated his dedication to the team. The soccer season runs from February through the first week of June. Gates noted that schedule conflicts with accountants’ busiest season of February through April 15. Albano worked with his father, Mike, at Albano & Associates in Marion. Yet, Albano made it work, Gates said, going in early and staying late. “He made it work so he could coach soccer.”
Beyond the game, Albano was interested in the students. “He was the person who went the extra mile and listened and listened,…” Gates said. He stayed late to talk to the kids, to listen to them.”
If a player acted out, Gates said, Albano worked to understand what the underlying problem was.
Diane Hanna, a former MSHS girls soccer coach and the mother of one of Albano’s past players, remarked, “He loved his soccer and he loved each of the boys that have played for him…. He was a great coach and a great friend to those boys.”
Gates, who was the head MSHS soccer coach when Albano began his coaching career and then eventually became Albano’s assistant, also described him as humble. “If we won, the kids did it. If we lost, the coaches should have done something different.”
Win they did. Albano began helping with the team in 1998 and took on the assistant coach’s role the following year. In 2005, he transitioned to head coach. In that time period, Gates noted, the MSHS boys won about 75 percent of their games. “I can honestly say it was the winningest program. He did a great job.”
In addition to soccer, Gates noted that for years Albano coached a recreation league basketball team for elementary school students.
“He impacted a lot of kids’ lives,” he said.
He continued to impact lives in death. His obituary noted that Albano was a tissue donor.
He earned a degree from Eastern Nazarene College in Massachusetts, where he also played soccer.
His funeral services will be held Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 11 a.m. at First United Methodist Church, Marion, with the Rev. Jonathan Jonas and Dr. Steve Scott officiating. Burial will follow in Rose Lawn Cemetery, Marion.
In lieu of flowers, an Eric Albano Memorial Soccer Fund has been established, and donations may be made c/o Seaver-Brown Funeral Service, P.O. Box 427, Marion, VA 24354.