Pan Am soccer set to kick off in Hamilton
Members of the Canadian soccer team pose on campus this week. Some 400 athletes and support staff will be living on campus for the duration of the Pan Am Games.
Some of the world’s best soccer players arrived on campus this week ahead of the opening of the Pan Am Games.
McMaster was selected as a satellite athletes’ village and is hosting the players for the duration of the tournament.
Read: Campus Pan Am preparations in full swing
Soccer games will be played at CIBC Hamilton Pan Am Soccer Stadium, located on Melrose Avenue.
McMaster will be well-represented at the Games, with a number of alumni and coaching staff taking part in a number of competitions.
Among them is Andrew Yorke, a McMaster alumnus and triathlete who will participate in his fourth Pan Ams this summer.
Adam van Koeverden is another alumnus to watch for. An Olympic sprint kayaker, he has won eight world championships and taken home four Olympic medals in gold, silver and bronze.
Lisa Thomaidis, who earned three OUA All-stars as a Marauder, is now the head coach for the Canadian women’s basketball team. Joining her is Anne-Marie Thuss, who has been the assistant coach to the McMaster women’s basketball team for 10 seasons. Thuss will join Team Canada as team manager.
Paul Ragusa will provide support to the men’s wrestling team. As a Marauder, Ragusa was a four-time national champion. He later went on to participate in the Commonwealth Games (1994), Pan Am Games (1995, 1999) and Summer Olympics (1996) in Athens.
McMaster grad Dianna Moulden will be the lead medical practitioner for the Canadian soccer teams at the Games. Since graduating, she has been a part of the Marauders’ therapeutic staff.
