The NL Soccer Association adds seven members to its Hall of Fame

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It’s Hall of Fame season for the Newfoundland and Labrador Soccer Association (NLSA).

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In an announcement on Dec. 6, the NLSA announced it was inducting seven new members into its provincial soccer Hall of Fame as a part of its 2024 class: five athletes and two builders, all of whom have impacted the growth of the game across the province.

Jamie Carew, Jennifer Fahey, Mike Reddy, Paul J. Slaney, and Ann Woodford are those athletes. The builders are Robert Tarrant and Tim Facey.

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A stout defender

Jamie Carew started in minor soccer with the Guards before eventually moving to Mount Pearl, where he helped his new team to provincial titles at the under-14, under-16 and under-18 levels.

From there, he played in St. John’s Junior Soccer League before jumping to the Challenge Cup level with Holy Cross and the Feildians. Carew spent 18 years playing Challenge Cup where he was a five-time all-star as a midfielder while also winning a pair of most sportsmanlike awards.

He also represented Memorial University during his career where he was known as a good defender who could join the attack when the chance presented itself.

Continues to give back

Before she was a coach with the Paradise Soccer Association, Jennifer Fahey showed her immense soccer skills at all levels of competition in the province.

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A regular with provincial teams in her youth days, Fahey capped her minor soccer career by competing at the 1997 Canada Summer Games in Brandon, Manitoba.

After that, she played for five years with the Memorial University Sea-Hawks, where she was an Athletic Honours Society member in 2002, while also stepping onto the women’s senior soccer stage in the province.

As a member of the Feildians, she was named the Feildians Female Soccer Player of the Year in 1999. Fahey was also a Jubilee Trophy all-star in 2006 and 2008. On top of several St. John’s and provincial titles, she made an appearance at the 2006 National Jubliee Trophy Championship.

A regular all-star

By the time Ann Woodford had concluded her two-decade soccer career, she had developed a reputation as a hardworking and versatile player who was the ultimate team player.

It was enough that she’s forever recognized with the Ann Woodford Award, which is given to the Most Effective and Sportspersonlike Player of the Jubilee Trophy playoffs every year.

As a player, Woodford made numerous St. John’s all-star teams and made the provincial under-18 team in 1988. She was a member of the province’s first Canada Games women’s team at the 1993 event held in Kamloops, B.C.

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Woodford also excelled in five seasons with Memorial University and in 1993 was named a first-team all-star in what is now called Atlantic University Sport (AUS). She was also inducted into Memorial’s Athletic Honours Society.

Double hall of fame

Mike Reddy enters NLSA Hall of Fame having already been inducted into the St. John’s Soccer Hall of Fame previously.

An intelligent and skilled player in his day, Reddy excelled as a long-time Holy Cross player. He was named the 1966 rookie of the year in both the St. John’s junior and senior leagues.

Reddy was a part of championship teams at the St. John’s First Division and Challenge Cup levels. From 1970-1973, he was a member of Memorial University and helped that team to the National Intercollegiate Soccer Championships, which they won in 1970. The 1970 win was the province’s first ever national title. Reddy had a tryout with the Canadian national team the same year.

Longtime president

When it came time for the Feildians Athletic Association to celebrate 100 years in 1999, Tim Facey was right in the middle of it as a member of the committee that brought the Newton Rangers Football Club to St. John’s for the anniversary.

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A lifelong Feildian, Facey served the association as a player, a coach and an organizer. He’s also worked with provincial teams and Canada Games teams.

Facey was the association president from 1984 to 2014 and continues to serve on the board of directors with the Feildians Athletic Grounds Association.

A strong advocate

When Robert Tarrant moved to Conception Bay North to be the assistant principal at All Hallows Elementary in North River, there wasn’t much minor soccer to speak of. So, the native of Lawn created one.

Tarrant started small by taking some of his students out for simple drills during recess and lunch breaks on a nearby field. Eventually, that former softball field became a soccer pitch as Tarrant’s work grew.

Just a few years later, that work grew to become the CBN Lightning and spread to the neighbouring community of Bay Roberts.

The Lightning are now in their 20th season and have more than 400 players registered.

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