Samuel Charron named 2016 Canadian Para Soccer Player of the Year

Samuel Charron named 2016 Canadian Para Soccer Player of the Year. The 18-year old international footballer from Ottawa, ON was honoured with the selection made by the Canada Para Soccer coaching staff.

“Sam stepped up at the very young age in 2016 and played the role of a leader at the IFCPF Qualification Tournament in Denmark,” said Drew Ferguson, Canada Soccer’s Para Soccer Head Coach. “With some of our experienced leaders out through injury, we gave Sam the captain’s armband and he fulfilled the role both on and off the field.”

Charron was Most Valuable Player of the IFCPF Qualification Tournament in July and August, helping Canada clinch a spot for next year’s 2017 IFCPF World Championships. In only six matches, he scored an incredible 15 goals and five assists, including back-to-back-to-back hat tricks in the first three matches.

“Our Para Soccer team is in very good hands with Samuel Charron in a leadership role,” said Ferguson.

Through only 31 international matches over five years, Charron has scored 27 goals and 12 assists. He now ranks second all-time in program history behind only Trevor Stiles (29 goals), who missed the 2016 tournament through injury.

Charron is the fourth different winner of the Canadian Para Soccer Player of the Year since the award was inaugurated in 2012, with Brendon McAdam (2012) and Liam Stanley (2013, 2014), and Stiles (2015) the previous winners.

The 2016 Canada Soccer Player Awards will be announced from 9-16 December. In the coming week, the two Canadian U-17 Players of the Year will be announced on 13 December, the two Canadian U-20 Players of the Year will be announced on 14 December, and the two Canadian Players of the Year will be announced 15 and 16 December.