April 16, 2009
The Wood Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame Society is pleased to announce that soccer player Liam de Silva is the second athlete be inducted into the Class of 2009. de Silva, born 1977, developed his skills on the pitches of Fort McMurray and it was while in Fort McMurray that de Silva tasted the sweet flavour of victory as part of the under-17 boys team that captured the 1994 provincial title. They would go on to represent Alberta at the national championships held in Etobicoke, Ontraio finishing seventh. de Silva, an all around athlete, was also selected Athlete of the Year upon graduation from Father Patrick Mercredi Community High School.
In 1999 another national title was earned for de Silva as part of the Calgary Celtics senior men’s national championship club. The Celtics, playing out of the Alberta Major League, broke a 25-year drought for Alberta defeating British Columbia’s Coquitlam 1-0. In 2002 de Silva landed a spot on the Calgary Storm’s Premier De-
velopment Team. The PDL was a feeder system for USA and Canadian players under the age of 23 years trying to earn a spot in the United Soccer League.
During this time period, the Storm also toured Germany playing the top second division club teams. “It was a great two weeks,” recalls de Silva. “We played three games and were successful on the third game. We played Hertha Berlins reserve team and beat them 4-3. We also played FC Union Berlin and Bablesburg losing both games.” de Silva moved up to the Storm’s A-league team and in 2004 suited up for the Edmonton Aviators USL first division team.
de Silva also represented Canada internationally in fustal (indoor soccer) playing in a CONCACAF Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) tournament in Anaheim, California.
“We played against the States in our first game and it was also our first game together as a team so we were unfamiliar with each other. The more games we played the better we got and we beat Costa Rica and tied Mexico.”
The year 2005 was the highlight of de Silva’s soccer career when he cracked the line-up for the Vancouver Whitecaps (USL first division) assisting the franchise to a quarterfinal finish.
In 2006 he returned to Calgary to play senior soccer for the Calgary Callies and has played a key role in leading the team to three consecutive appearances in a national championship finale, winning back-to-back in 2007 and 2008. He finished the 2009 indoor season playing in the Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League for the Calgary United FC . It was his second season with the Calgary franchise.
When not playing soccer de Silva is concentrating on a promising modeling career. |
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