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Andrea Neil to be inducted in Canada's Sports Hall of Fame


cwntfan

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Andrea Neil, former Canadian Women's National Team captain now assistant coach will be officially inducted on November 8th at the Telus Convention Center in Calgary. She'll be the first female footballer to be inducted. Well deserved, she was and still is an amazing leader and role model. So happy for her and all she has accomplished and will continue to accomplish.

I remember meeting her after the US v Canada game at BMO Field and she talked to my friend and I for so long about the game and my "future in playing" (I no longer play lol) but just goes to show you what a class act she is. Rubs off on her players (former teammates) too.

CSA report: http://canadasoccer.com/news/viewArtical.asp?Press_ID=4753

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I should also say that I've met a lot of exceptional individuals in my involvement with the sport, men and women, and none have impressed me more with their quality of character, dedication, consistency, professionalism, and leadership abilities as Andrea Neil. She is absolutely top drawer in my book, and fully deserving of this honour.

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There is no question about Neil being inducted, I have followed her career and even had the privlege of meeting her, my point was Hooper should be there also.

Not to undermine Miss Neil's nomination, but if there is someone who should be there first of all is Charmaine Hooper.

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Gulati, Hooper picked for FIFA Task Force 2014

U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati and former Canadian women's international Charmaine Hooper have been selected as part of FIFA's 22-member Task Force Football 2014.

The panel, chaired by former German World Cup hero Franz Beckenbauer, will convene initially May 10 at FIFA's Zurich headquarters and will "look at proposals to improve the attractiveness of football and match control in elite competitions," FIFA said.

(source CONCACAF signals)

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Nice to see anyone into the Hall of Fame. Neil was more of a journeyman, but she managed to keep up her skills and commitment to last 15 years. That's a different kind of talent that rarely goes noticed, and like the full-time salary it's good to see it recognized.

Two others who are inexcusably absent are Even Pellerud and Ian Bridge. If not for Pellerud we are 25th ranked in the world right now, and Bridge put 30 years into Canadian national soccer and holds the world's rarest honour of representing his country in all four major tournaments (Men's and Women's World Cups and Olympics).

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Our programs were in the dark ages before he got here. He completely transformed the entire system and is the architect behind everything we have now.

Ian Bridge not getting recognized is as and more awkward.

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Looks like soccer is not as important as things like bowling, badminton, equestrian, equestrian show jumping, harness racing, and yachting. Basketball either for that matter. Men are 87%, women 13%. Outside of Neil, Cassie Campbell and Angela James are the only 2 women representing a team sport in the 506 people in the Hall.

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Our programs were in the dark ages before he got here. He completely transformed the entire system and is the architect behind everything we have now.

Ian Bridge not getting recognized is as and more awkward.

Pellerud got a bad rep for his onfield tactics though and was the focus of a lot of criticism and ill feeling.

As Alan Douglas pointed out earlier in the thread, folks won't be named to the HoF if they are not nominated and anybody can nominate.

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I'd be among the first to say I didn't like the way he handled some situations, but he put us on the map and cut a path through the forest for the program we have today.

It's possible people are just not nominated, but with the statistics from all angles there's more to it than that.

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Nominating somebody does not guaranteed induction. All nominations go through a selection. It is possible there may have been more nomination of soccer people, just they didn't get selected. It would be interesting to see statistics of numbers of nominations submitted before they go to selection. Nomination is not as simple as sending in a name, it is an extensive process that requires a great deal of research, background and evidence for the review process.

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Sure, nomination obviously requires considerable effort but if people are not nominated they will never be named. Unless the raw list of nominees is made public we will never know where the problem lies with so few women involved in team sports in the Hall.

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I'd be among the first to say I didn't like the way he handled some situations, but he put us on the map and cut a path through the forest for the program we have today.
I seem to remember taking a lot of heat in this very forum for defending Pellerud on occasion, even though I too was not always happy with his onfield tactical approach ;-)
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