Courtesy: futsalcanada.ca

Charlie Cuzzetto presented Futsal Canada Hall of Fame Award

Futsal Canada is very proud to announce that one of the original founders of Futsal Canada Charlie Cuzzetto is the recipient of the 2nd Futsal Canada Hall of Fame Award.

The native of Vancouver was presented the award at a dinner in Kingston, Ontario during the weekend of the CSA Futsal Championships. Charlie has and continues to be one of the most significant builders in Canadian futsal history having been involved in the game for four decades.

Growing up in Vancouver’s eastside, Charlie attended Templeton Secondary School, the same high school attended by National Soccer Hall of Famers Bobby Lenarduzzi and Dominic Mobilio. His post-secondary education saw him graduate from both Central Virginia Community College in Lynchburg, Virginia and Vancouver Community College.

A few years ago he recently retired from his full time job as a Supervisor of Recreation for the City of Vancouver.

Alongside other revered Canadian futsal pioneers such as Carlos Mateus (Nanaimo), Robert Luft (London), and the first Futsal Canada Hall of Fame Award winner, Karl Grey (Ottawa), all of which helped develop the game within their respective regions, Charlie was instrumental in establishing BC as Canada's futsal capital during the 1980s and its eventual integration away from its FIFUSA origins into the FIFA system.

He was the team manager for the Canadian side that competed at the Pacific Cup in 1987, a significant futsal competition that featured six nations: Canada, U.S.A., Mexico, Japan, New Zealand, and hosts Australia. Discussions at that competition also led Charlie to become part of the Committee that created the 1st Aboriginal Indoor Soccer (Futsal) Cup between Australia and Canada in a highly popular three game series later that year which was held in three BC cities: Nanaimo, Vancouver, and Victoria.

In 1987 he was elected as Men’s Technical Director of the organization that had changed its name to Indoor Soccer Canada.

He helped establish a partnership between the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) and the original incarnation of Futsal Canada, which eventually became an associate member of the CSA, and became the primary liaison between the two organizations.

Most recently, he has been the central CSA representative at all three of their futsal club championships, including the most recent edition in Kingston. For years he was the driving force that lobbied hard for the CSA to include an annual futsal budget which finally came to fruition in 2015; firmly establishing one of his lasting legacies for the sport.

His passion and work wasn't limited to only futsal however as his efforts also extended deep into the soccer world. From 1982-87 he served as the General Manager of the renowned Vancouver Columbus FC of the Vancouver Metro Soccer League; one of the most successful Canadian amateur soccer clubs of all time. The club included his brother Joe, current CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani, the Lenarduzzi family, among many other notable contributors to soccer.

He served as President of BC Soccer in 2009 and stepped away in 2012 to join the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) as an elected member of the Board of Directors as the Yukon/BC region representative in which he still serves today. He was also selected to serve on the CSA’s Governance Committee in addition to being named as the head of delegation for numerous national team duties abroad including the futsal team in 2003 and 2004. He is currently a member of CONCACAF’s Appeals Committee.

Charlie Cuzzetto's contributions to futsal and the community at large are immense and everyone from the Canadian sporting scene owes him a great deal of gratitude for his service, though his humble nature would quickly deflect it to others that worked alongside him. On behalf of everyone at Futsal Canada, both old and new versions, we thank him for his tremendous years of service to the sport.








FP Staff --> info@futsalplanet.com