Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame welcomes 2014 Induction Class this Sunday

The Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame will welcome in the 2014 Induction Class this Sunday, which includes some of the biggest names in Canadian soccer.

The Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum, which is housed and operated by the Ontario Soccer Association at the Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughan, ON, will be open to the media on Saturday, 8 November starting at 15.00 ET, to interview various inductees.

For media which are unable to attend, accommodations can be made for phone and Skype interviews.

The 2000 Men’s National Team, which captured the CONCACAF Gold Cup in one of the most notable achievements by a Canadian team to date, are part of this year’s induction class as the Team of Distinction. Canada danced its way through difficult competition including Mexico and in their final game of the tournament they downed Colombia 2-0 and qualified for the FIFA Confederations Cup the following year.

In the Pioneer category, the story of Harry Manson is one that few may know, but he had a tremendous impact on the First Nations in the late 1800s. The most outstanding indigenous player of the time Manson, known as Xul-si-malt (One-who-leaves-his-mark), led his team from Nanaimo to the first B.C. provincial championship to ever be won by Indigenous players.

Isabelle Morneau and Geri Donnelly, two Canadian women’s national team players, who found success at the highest levels of the game, are part of this year’s Induction Class in the Player category. Also named in the player category is Carmine Marcantonio who was a member of the famed Metros-Croatia team that won the NASL champions in 1976.

Being recognized as part of this year’s Induction Class are Builders Chris Bennett and Hector Vergara.

Organizations of Distinction being recognized are the Edmonton Angels, who won the Jubilee Trophy an incredible nine times and The Robbie Tournament, which has helped produced national team players like Dwayne De Rosario, Diana Matheson and Jonelle Filigno.

Read full biographies of the Induction Class here.

The Hall of Fame Induction Banquet will be held at Chateau Le Jardin Conference and Event Venue on 9 November, 2014. Tickets are still available to the public.

For more information on media access or to arrange remote interviews, please contact:

Stephanie Geosits
Director of Marketing and Communication, Ontario Soccer Association
e: sgeosits@soccer.on.ca