British Columbia honours soccer heroes as part of Class of 2022

Nine former players, coaches, referees and builders as well as two teams and two organisations have been honoured by the Soccer Hall of Fame of British Columbia as part of the Class of 2022. Former National Team players Sven Haberman, Larry Louie, Clare Rustad and Josh Simpson along with 1960s footballer Roy Nosella highlight the Class of 2022 that was announced on Saturday 5 November.

Coach Brian Hughes, referee Michelle Pye and referees Jim Lamond and Keith Millar were also celebrated as part of the Class of 2022. British Columbia Teams of Distinction were the men’s 1951 Victoria All-Stars and the women’s 1996-2003 Vancouver UBC Alumni squad. British Columbia Organizations of Distinction were Kamloops YSA and North Shore United FC.

The Soccer Hall of Fame of British Columbia was founded in 2019 to recognize and honour excellence by British Columbians in soccer, whose example brought great credit to our sport and province. The founding members were the 96 British Columbians already honoured by the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame before 2019.

As part of the Class of 2022, Haberman was an Olympic and FIFA World Cup goalkeeper from the 1980s, Rustad was an Olympic footballer at Beijing 2008, and Simpson was a two-time participant in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. Both Louie and Nosella, meanwhile, were footballers in the old Pacific Coast League, with Louie notably a 1969 Canada Games winner with British Columbia and Nosella a 1964 Canada Soccer Football Championship with Vancouver Columbus FC.

For more information on the Soccer Hall of Fame of British Columbia, please visit https://heritage.bcsoccer.net/hall-of-fame/. Alongside the Class of 2022, Martina Franko was also honoured this year as a player after she was inducted to the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame.