Soccer - Boys

A native of Chile, Robert Brione has been the head coach of the NFA boys soccer team since 1997. Prior to NFA, he served for two years as the head coach at Putnam High School. He has amassed a record of 275-153-29. Throughout his career, Briones has coached eight All-New England players, 23 All-State players and 57 All-Conference players. His teams have won seven ECC league titles and one ECC tournament title. In 2019, Briones was honored with the Outstanding Coach of Year by the Connecticut High School Coaches Association. He has been named regional Coach of the Year three times and selected to coach the State Senior Bowl. In 2015, Briones was awarded the Eastern Connecticut Soccer Official Association Award for 25 years of service, and in 2017, he won Soccer Official of the Year in Connecticut, awarded by the CGSCA. Briones was inducted into the Southeast Connecticut Soccer Hall of Fame in 2013.

Briones graduated with a Paralegal degree from Instituto Jurídico Canon, Santiago, Chile in 1989. From there, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Latin American Studies in 1995 and obtained his Master’s in Educational Psychology, Concentration in School Counseling in 1997, both from the University of Connecticut. In addition to coaching, Briones enjoys playing soccer for the Southeast Rovers team, traveling, biking, playing tennis and learning other languages. A native Spanish speaker, he is fluent in Portuguese and English. 

Alex Cabezas has been a member of the NFA coaching staff since 2010, serving first for eight years as the JV coach and the last five seasons as the varsity assistant. A native of Ecuador, Cabezas moved to the US in 1999 and graduated from NFA in 2000. Cabezas was part of the gold medal winning U23 team representing southeastern Connecticut in the 2009 Nutmeg Games. He continues to be actively involved in playing soccer, competing on the only Connecticut team represented in the over-35 Central Mass Soccer League.

A 2014 graduate of NFA, Lee has served as the JV coach for the last four seasons. Lee also teaches social studies at the Academy, following three years of teaching at St. Bernard’s. He received his master’s from UCONN in 2019.