Al Pastore was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1947. He graduated from Lakeland High School in 1965 and State University of New York at Oneonta in 1969.

Pastore’s coaching career began in 1969 when he started the Oneonta’s track & field program. He got involved with soccer when his five-year-old son, Brian, became interested in the sport. Pastore formed FC Westchester, an elite level youth soccer club, in 1986. He was named the Youth National Coach of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) in 1992.

His success at the youth level allowed Pastore to pursue a career in the sport. Pastore was an assistant coach at UNC Charlotte from 1992-96. Pastore moved to Wilmington and was one of the original owners of the Wilmington Hammerheads, a professional soccer team that remained in town through 2017. He coached the Hammerheads for the first three seasons before taking an assistant coaching position at Duke. Pastore remained at Duke for five years before returning to Wilmington to take over the New Hanover High School boys and girls programs. The Wildcats reached the 2008 N.C.

High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) 4A Boys State Championship for the first time in school history in 2008. Pastore is a member of the New York State Soccer Hall of Fame. He received the NSCAA’s Youth Long Term Service Award in 2003. In 2001, the prestigious Tampa Bay Sun Bowl youth soccer tournament named the U-14 age group the Al Pastore U-14 Championship Cup.

Pastore was married to his wife, Catherine, for 51 years. They had two children – Brian and Allison.