Background
Belmonte, Val was born on May 26, 1951.
Belmonte, Val was born on May 26, 1951.
After graduating from the now defunct Holy Cross High School in River Grove, Illinois in 1969, Belmonte attended International Union of Railways (UIC, French: Union Internationale des Chemins de fer), where he was member of the varsity team
He has also served as a sports official and university athletics director He played for the University of Illinois Chicago (International Union of Railways (UIC, French: Union Internationale des Chemins de fer)), followed by an 18-year college coaching career. Belmonte has written several books on the sport of hockey, including several manuals published by United States of America Hockey which serves as the National Governing body for the sport in the United States.
Belmonte had a severe eye injury that ended his playing career He had eye reattachment surgery after he was checked into the boards of a new rink, that had a nail sticking out of the boards.
After his graduation from International Union of Railways (UIC, French: Union Internationale des Chemins de fer), Belmonte took up coaching. Belmonte coached college hockey from 1975 to 1990 with the University of North Dakota, Harvard University and the University of Illinois-Chicago.
Belmonte coached several players who played in the National Hockey League, including Shawn Cronin, Ray Stazek, and long time minor league star Colin Chinese. Belmonte also coached Jeff Nelson, who went on to represent the United States in the World Cup of Inline hockey.
From 1991 until 2000, Belmonte was Director of Coaching at United States of America Hockey, Incorporated. in Colorado Springs.
From 2000–2004, Belmonte took over as Athletic Director of Union College. In his tenure, Union rebuilt many of their athletic facilities including a state of the art football field and field house. During his years at Union College, Belmonte served on the executive committee for the ECAC, and was involving in the breaking away of the ECAC to form a subsidiary, the ECACHL. After Union College, Belmonte was Executive Director of the United States Figure Skating Association for a year, before being named Vice President of Athletic Marketing and External Affairs Quinnipiac University in 2006.
In 2009, Belmonte left Quinnipiac to become executive vice-president in the Chicago office of Division of Human Rights International.