PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- The 2026 CIAO Soccer Hall of Fame induction ceremony took place at Berkshire Hills Country Club on Thursday.

 

The Hall of Fame's mission is to preserve the sport's history in Berkshire County, to honor excellence within the game and to make a connection between the generations that bring communities together. With players who last played on a soccer field in Berkshire County in the 1960s to the scholarship winners at the banquet on May 14th who played their last high school game in the fall of last year, we are achieving our goal. 

 

It is worth noting that this class of inductees is stellar. We have four County MVP selections, 14 All-Berkshire selections, eight All-Western Mass selections and, and nine captain honors, five four-year varsity starters and one five-year varsity starter. 

 

The players were introduced by committee chairmen Al Belanger and Patrick West. The scholarship winners were introduced by Chris Dumas, a member of the CIAO Soccer Hall of Fame committee. The photographer for the evening was Ricco Fruscio. Over the past 21 years, the scholarships awarded to high school seniors in Berkshire County have topped $250,000.  

 

The 2026 Inductees:

Katie Dumas Sturm (Wahconah 2015) was a hard-nosed, and relentless four-year starter for Wahconah. She was a two-year captain in the middle of the field, scoring and assisting on clutch goals in big games. She was rewarded with being named All Berkshire, and All Western Mass in her senior year. She is married to Brent Sturm (who is also being inducted into the hall of fame this year) and has a son Banks and a 7-week-old Everett Michael. She works at General Dynamics. 

 

Brent Sturm (Wahconah 2009) was named to the All Berkshire Team in both his junior and senior years and won a Western Mass championship during his time at Wahconah. He also went on to have a stellar career at Wentworth Institute. He and his wife, Katie, are the first husband and wife inductees into the CIAO Soccer Hall of Fame in the same year.  After college, he helped coach the Wahconah Soccer and basketball teams. He works at General Dynamics.

   

Nicole Gamberoni (Lenox 2019) was an impact player on her team for five years while at Lenox making All-Berkshire teams four times. She was captain twice, finished with 107 points, and was the league MVP two times. She also went on to play soccer at AIC. She is working at Lenox High School while she is getting her master’s degree. 

 

Luke Peploski (Pittsfield 2020) was a four-year starter at PHS and made All-Berkshire and All-Western Mass teams from 2017-2020. He went on to play at Hamilton College and now holds the all-time assist record for the Continentals and led his team back to the D-III NCAA tournament for the first time in 17 years. He was named to the All-NESCAC team for three years. He was also an All-Region selectee during this time.

 

Cam Powell (Monument Mountain 2014) was a four-year starter at Monument Mountain, a senior captain and sportsmanship award winner, a two time All-Berkshire and two-time All-Southern Berkshire player. After high school Cam played soccer at Springfield College and earned multiple honors. He was named to the All-Conference team and was awarded the ECAC Player of the Year. He won the Coaches’ Award, The Defensive Player of the Year, and the Rookie of the Year. He also earned the NSCAA Scholar Award. After college he played for two different Scandinavian football clubs. 

 

Molly Masiero (Monument Mountain 2010) was a four-year varsity player, a captain, and All-South/All-Berkshire first team player four times. And she led her team all four years in scoring. Her soccer life at Lasell was strong as well. She was the starting center-mid three years and as a captain, led her team to three GNAC championships during those years. Her teams also went to the NCAA tournament those years as well. After college she helped coach the Monument team for one year and has since moved to Breckenridge, Colorado where she is a Licensed Massage Therapist. 

 

Joe Larkin (Pittsfield 1978) was also named all-everything at Pittsfield High School soccer: Two-time All Berkshire 1st team, Berkshire Eagle All-League, and he was a Div-I Western-Mass team player… a very rare event in the 1970s. He went on to UMASS where he continued to be a stand-out in baseball.  (He was a three-year varsity starter.) He married Maggie Messina, from Pittsfield, has three children, lives in Newton and is a principal parter for Millenium Partners.

 

Sara Hamilton (Wahconah 2011) was a talented four-year varsity midfielder at Wahconah. Her teams won three Berkshire County championships, two Western-Mass championships and she led the team to two nail-biter state finals in 2008 and 2010. She was named to the All-Berkshire and All-Western Mass teams twice. Her soccer teams in high school had a record of 57-8-4. In all the sports she played in high school she won 8 county championships, seven Western-Mass championships, three Central-Mass championships and one state final. She has also been inducted into three county halls of fame. 

 

Andy Waluszko (Monument Mountain 1982) was a soccer coach in Berkshire County for over four decades starting at St. Joe in 1987 and ending at Pittsfield high in 2017 for a total of 41 years. He also coached the club team Soccer Domain Academy out of New Jersey for 7 years. His record at PHS was 117 wins, 55 losses and 24 ties with ten straight trips to the D-I Western Mass Tournament. His teams had a 49-game win streak against county teams between 2011-2015. Andy now lives in Saratoga, New York and works for General Dynamics Mission Systems. 

 

The 21 CIAO Soccer Hall of Fame Scholarship Winners:

Megan McGrath, Drury High. She plans to go to Western New England and major in health.

Rommel Alvarez, Drury High. He plans to go to Spa Tech. Institute with a barber major.

Nyla Dion, Hoosac Valley. She plans to go to BCC and major in business. 

Evan Richardson, Hoosac Valley. He plans to go to Siena College and major in marketing.  

Jenna Simone, Lee High. She plans to go to Digrigoli, and major in business/cosmetology. 

Lauren Bridges, Lenox High.  She plans to go to Boston College to major in communications and theater.

Javier Anaya, Lenox High. He plans to go to BCC and major in finance.  

Ryleigh Rathbun, McCann. She plans to go to MCLA and major in radiology.  

Carter Moore, McCann. Future plans undecided.

Mabel Cooney, Monument Mountain. She plans to go to Loyola and major in business. 

Owen Heck, Monument Mountain. He plans to go to Binghamton to major in sociology.  

Kamari Pridgen, Mount Everett. She plans to go to Curry College and major in marketing. 

Philip Enoch, Mount Everett. He plans to go to Williams and major in English/pre-law.

Madison Powell, MountGreylock. She plans to go to Northeastern and major in architecture. 

Will Apotsos, Mount Greylock. He plans to go to UMichigan and major in aerospace engineering. 

Kyana Summers, Pittsfield High. She plans to go to The Elms and major in biology.

Samseedy Touray, Pittsfield High. He plans to go to UMass-Amherst and major in engineering. 

Valentina Chimarro, Taconic High. She plans to go to Westfield and major in social work.

Frederick Yankey, Taconic High. He plans to go to UMass-Lowell and major in computer science.

Anna Doyle, Wahconah Regional.  She plans to go to Coastal Carolina and major in nursing. 

Ethan Coughlin, Wahconah Regional. He plans to go to Springfield College and major in physical therapy.