Whitecaps FC president Bob Lenarduzzi received an honorary doctorate from Thompson Rivers University on Wednesday, June 8.
Lenarduzzi was granted an honorary Doctor of Laws during the convocation ceremonies at TRU campus in Kamloops.
TRU highlighted many of Lenarduzzi’s accomplishments in their write-up:
“Bob Lenarduzzi is a Canadian sport icon, excelling as soccer player, coach, general manager and now president of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
He represented Canada 47 times, including at the 1984 Olympic Summer Games and the 1986 FIFA World Cup, and was twice named the Canadian Soccer League’s Coach of the Year.
His continuing contributions to the growth of the sport include the Whitecaps’ successful bid for a Major League Soccer franchise and the launch of the National Soccer Development Centre, a training facility for not only Whitecaps FC teams, but Canadian national teams, visitors and Vancouver’s local soccer community.
Seeing a vital link between sports leadership and community well-being, he is cultivating leadership in Canadian youth through sport.
Lenarduzzi is a visionary community-builder with an impact that goes far beyond his sport, and embodies the determination and leadership which TRU aims to foster in our students.”
An honorary doctorate is TRU’s highest form of recognition, awarded for demonstrated excellence in the fields of public affairs, the sciences, arts, humanities, business and philanthropy. Recipients are recognized for having excelled in their respective fields both nationally and internationally.
Lenarduzzi will add the honorary doctorate from TRU to a long list of official recognitions received, including inductions into the North American Soccer Hall of Fame, the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame, the BC Sports Hall of Fame, and the United Soccer Leagues Hall of Fame. In 2005, he also received the Order of British Columbia for his contribution to the sport of soccer.
