Hamilton Soccer Hall of Fame door opens for 12 more
The Hamilton Soccer Hall of Fame, which inducted its first class in 2012, will welcome 12 new members at Michelangelo Banquet Centre on Friday,
May 11.
The class of 2018 includes five new members inducted as players and three as builders, one team, a minor soccer club, a respected high school coach and a longtime referee.
“The hall of fame not only honours our history, I think that it also gives inspiration to our local players to be the best they can, especially with pro soccer finally coming back to Hamilton,” says Vince Micieli, president of the hall of fame.
David Clanachan, commissioner of the new Canadian Premier League is the keynote speaker.
New inductee Lucio Ianiero, currently men’s varsity soccer coach at Brock University, played for the Hamilton Steelers when they won the national championship in 1986. He was with the Steelers through their five-plus years in the CSL. He played for the Toronto Blizzard and Toronto Rockets and was capped 17 times for Canada.
The late John Kerr Sr. is already in the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame as a builder. He played for the Hamilton Steelers and Primos 1961 to 1967, played in the NASL for Washington and the New York Cosmos, where he was a league all-star, and was capped 10 times for Canada.
John DiPasquale captained Canada’s U-19 team at the 1986 Youth World Cup in Minsk, Russia. He played for powerful McMaster Marauders teams from 1984-86, and three years pro for the Hamilton Steelers. He also helped build the strong Saltfleet women’s program.
Craig Martin spent five years playing for McMaster and was an OUAA all-star; he is a member of the McMaster Athletics Hall of Fame. He was a member of Dundas United’s 1980 Spectator Cup champions and played for the NSL Steelers.
Ray Trevisan won youth city championships with Hamilton St. Peters and Superga juniors, led Mohawk College to their first OCAA championships in 1969 and ’70, and helped Hamilton Italo Canadians to the league title and the Ontario Cup. He also played professionally for the Italo Canadians in the NSL.
Builder John Gibson, former president of the Hamilton and District Soccer Association and now director of interprovincial affairs for the Canadian Premier League, is the founder of the Hamilton Soccer Hall of Fame. He’s a member of the Mohawk Sports Hall of Fame, coaching their soccer team for 10 years and
is co-founder of the ArcelorMittal Grassroots kids program at Tim Hortons Field.
Builder Jorge Sousa played for Portuguese powerhouse Porto, and later spent 30 years at the Hamilton YMCA, where he introduced soccer programming. He coached in the Provincial Soccer League, and with the Steelers in the CPSL and has volunteered for years with the Hamilton and District Oldtimers Soccer league.
Builder Nadia Tornifoglia was a mainstay with the Salfleet Go Ahead Soccer Club, and is now recreational director of the Saltfleet Stoney Creek Soccer Club. She has worked tirelessly with the H&DSA where she’s vice-president, volunteered with the Pan Am Games soccer tournament,
and helped host the U-16 girls national championship at McMaster.
The 1989 Mohawk men’s team, which went undefeated on the way to the national championship, is the Team of Distinction. The Mount Hamilton Soccer Club, which started in 1964 and has 2,500 players, is being inducted as the Club of Distinction.
Frank Rizzuti, inducted in the high school category, is a longtime community coach, also coaching boys high school soccer for 30 years, including a provincial title with St. Mary’s. He’s been with the Cardinal Newman juniors 19 years.
The late Bill Devorski, who spent 35 years officiating all over Ontario and was also a high-level hockey official, is being inducted in the Official’s category.