Dr. Ricardo de la Riva had a big impact on Greater Sudbury after tirelessly serving as a city councillor for 28 years between 1972 and 2000.

However, his impact on youth soccer in the city was just as great, and is still felt on soccer fields across Greater Sudbury to this day.

Dr. de la Riva will be inducted into the Sudbury Sports Hall of Fame on June 11 for his pivotal role in creating a thriving youth soccer culture locally.

“I was surprised with this honour,” he said of his impending induction. “I worked very hard to promote junior soccer.”

Born in Spain in 1930, de la Riva immigrated to Ottawa in 1956, then moved to Sudbury to start his practice seven years later.

Though a soccer fan, he had almost no involvement as a player, but quickly recognized there was little soccer available for local youth, aside from the sand field on White Avenue.

“Before we started this adventure, there was nothing for junior soccer and there were lots of problems,” he said. “There were no soccer fields in the city and the city didn’t have much. But slowly more and more people helped. I approached a few companies in Sudbury to sponsor teams and the Steelworkers sponsored two teams and others stepped up. We got coaches who were hockey coaches to come and watch the games and start to coach junior soccer, and soon we were successful.”

Dr. de la Riva then became a champion for youth soccer in the city, gathering together like-minded volunteers such as Mauro Ventura, George Krauss and Ann Primeau, who became one of his favourite local coaches as she switched gears from hockey to become a respected soccer coach.

“The boys used to really enjoy playing for her, and they wall wanted to be on her team,” de la Riva recalled.

The beginnings weren’t easy, according to de la Riva’s son, Charles, who recalled “having meetings at home, uniforms on the clothesline, the machine to line the fields in our garage, all of that. The quality of the fields was awful. What we had before, it was dirt, not grass. The facilities were terrible, but there was no money.”

However, by 1967, more than 250 youth players were registered and a dozen teams were created, such as the Steelworkers, Alouettes, Richelieu, Bad Boys, Vanguard Pharmacy and a group from Garson, with select teams travelling across the province for competition.

Dr. de la Riva rightly feels pride when he sees soccer fields around Sudbury jammed with young players as youth leagues thrive here and across Canada.

“When we started the junior soccer league, we had 300 or 400 playing in our league and it slowly went up and up and now you see the local leagues and they are a continuation of our league we started, but I would still like to see more,” he said.

“Soccer is the most popular sport for youth now,” he added with a smile. “All you need is a soccer ball and a net and a referee, and it’s cheap. Soccer is full of life.”

Dr. de la Riva, along with the Polish White Eagles, Joyce Salo-McKenzie, Mike Stewart, Paul Gauthier, Terry McKinty, Wade Eadie, Don Benoit, John McCreedy and Conrad Houle will be inducted to the Sudbury Sports Hall of Fame during the 46th annual House of Kin Sports Celebrity Dinner and Awards on June 11 at the Caruso Club. Tickets for the sports celebrity dinner, awards and the induction ceremony are on sale at the House of Kin or by contacting Chris Sheridan, Karly Fletcher or Norm Mayer at 705-522-3600. Tickets are $50 for adults and $20 for youngsters 10 years of age and younger.

bruce.heidman@sunmedia.ca

On Twitter: @bheidman