Why He Plays: Albert Varacallo

Photo credit: Madonna Schwentner

Before the students start arriving at DuBois Central Catholic, the lights turn on when Albert Varacallo walks into the gym, the same one he played in ten years earlier as a Cardinal, the only difference is he now wears a DuBois Dream shirt and works on shooting three’s from 23.75 feet out, rather than 19.75 feet.

Varacallo’s love for basketball started when he was in first grade playing on the hoop in his backyard, the courts at the YMCA and inside on his nerf hoop where he would imitate Trajan Langdon, a former Duke Basketball guard, while he and his three brothers would pretend to be playing in the NCAA March Madness Tournament.

That love for basketball followed him through elementary school when he started playing organized basketball in fifth grade and when he had to make the decision between take a division one scholarship to play baseball, or to continue his basketball career at the collegiate level, his senior year of high school.

“I just started to get really burnt out from baseball,” Varacallo said. “I knew that anytime I played basketball it was always just fun and it never got old for me, that was kind of why I decided to start playing basketball more and really focus on that. I made that decision my senior year and ever since then I’ve loved it and it’s been very rewarding.”

The reason Varacallo decided to pursue basketball instead of baseball in college is one of the main reasons he still plays today because it’s fun for him. 

“First and foremost I have fun,” Varacallo said. “You’ve got to always have fun with the game, I’m not saying it’s always going to be fun, but you have to find a way to make it fun.”

That wasn’t always easy for Varacallo, especially in high school and college. 

“I really took it very seriously and anytime I had a bad game I really let it bring me down for days on end,” Varacallo said. “But the minute I changed my mind set to, ‘this is just a game and I can do a lot more than just playing basketball’ it just became fun again.”

Over the past ten years, Varacallo has played for Washington and Jefferson College where he was named an All-PAC Honorable Mention in 2010; the Pittsburgh Steel City Yellow Jackets, a team in the American Basketball Association; and now plays for and founded the DuBois Dream, a minor league basketball team.

I’ve always been of the nature, if someone doesn’t necessarily want you or need you on a team, why not do it yourself?

Upon graduating college, Varacallo had opportunities to go to tryouts and pursue a career overseas, but when his dad passed away in July of 2010, he had to make his next big decision regarding basketball; instead of taking the tryouts, he decided to put his focus into law school.

Even though he was taking a break from the basketball court professionally, Varacallo continued to play in intramural leagues for another reason: it kept him in shape, physically and competitively.

After passing the Bar Exam, Varacallo heard about a tryout for a basketball team based in Pittsburgh and emailed its owner asking what to expect from the tryouts. He was planning on attending the tryouts in hopes of finding athletes who he could represent as a sports agent, but decided he might as well try out himself.

“I actually did really well at the try out and made my first six or seven threes in the open scrimmage that we did and I ended up making the team,” Varacallo said. “So that was my next decision, but there were a couple decision along the way that I needed to make that really helped, but seeing what I could do in Pittsburgh, I wanted to bring it to this area and it’s been awesome.”

Varacallo brought basketball and dreaming back to DuBois when he saw a former NBA player, Smush Parker, playing in a basketball tournament during the summer. He started looking into the tournament and reached out to a team, Sideline Cancer, to see if he could join the team. But its roster was already full.

“I’ve always been of the nature, if someone doesn’t necessarily want you or need you on a team, why not do it yourself?” Varacallo said. “So I decided to throw out a name and a team and I just ran with it.”

The thought of playing for $2 million just for the team members to take home wasn’t something Varacallo was interested in, he wanted to make it about something bigger than himself and the team. He decided the DuBois Dream would play for his father’s foundation, The Dr. Albert Varacallo Foundation and the Miracle League field.

After seeing that impact and everything the community has done for him and the DuBois Dream, Varacallo wants to give back. After getting voted into “The Basketball Tournament” in 2016, the DuBois Dream lost in the first round to the no. 1 seed overall. But Varacallo is hoping to make it back in 2017.

Albert Varacallo and Shea Mckinney after a
DuBois Dream game earlier this year. 

“It was so rewarding because the community backed it and we got in and we got to play,” Varacallo said.  “I think the more we get into this and the more we get to play and the more we try to keep playing the better the opportunity we have to win some money for these causes and these organizations.”

“I know I’ve mentioned it before,” Varacallo added, “but at the very least if we just spread the word about some of these causes that’s a win too.”

This year the DuBois Dream will not only be playing for The Dr. Albert Varacallo Foundation and the Miracle League Field, but also for Shea Mckinney, a elementary student at DuBois Central Catholic who was diagnosed with Leukemia earlier this year and Caring and Sharing for Kids. 

“She provides the motivation we need,” Varacallo said. “You know we are just playing a game and this girl is fighting for her life and continues to fight, that inspiration right there keeps you going.”

That inspiration is the main reason Varacallo continues to play basketball after imitating college players on his nerf hoop over twenty years ago: he can help encourage the youth and people around him.

“I really want to see kids coming out of this area and doing big things,” Varacallo said. “Not just with basketball because of the reach, but just pursuing something because you can become kind of stagnant if you don’t have a sport or something you’re working towards, so I’m hoping we can keep building on this.”

Varacallo started introducing the children in the area to basketball when he teamed up with Norbert Baschnagel as an instructor at his “Fun with Fundamentals” basketball camps.

I really want to see kids coming out of this area and doing big things.

“My passion has only increased and my love for the game has only increased because of those camps
and seeing the kids' smiles,” Varacallo said.  “It makes you feel really good for just helping them out and giving them a high five or word of encouragement and it continues to prove to me how much of an impact you can have with this game.”

While Varacallo wants to bring basketball back to the area to help encourage the youth to “dream big,” he has dreams of his own.

“I can just imagine DuBois being on ESPN and people from this area being so proud,” Varacallo said. “It’s just something that’s so cool for everyone to share in, even though we are a small town, we can band together and do some big things.”

That dream is why Varacallo, after all of these years, is still the first or last person on the basketball courts at DuBois Central Catholic every day.

You can help support Albert and the DuBois Dream and their causes (Shea Mckinney, Caring and Sharing for Kids, the Dr. Albert Varacallo Foundation and the Miracle League Field) by voting for them to get into The Basketball Tournament here: www.thetournament.com/teams/dubois-dream.