Simon Gatti (born February 16, 1981) is a Canadian former soccer player and current head coach for th
Montreal Impact Academy
s U-14 team. He initially began his career in his home region of Niagara with St. Catharines Wolves in the Canadian Professional Soccer League. He made the transition to college soccer by enrolling at the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

, and during the off season he played in the

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

with Rhode Island Stingrays. In 2006, he was drafted by the Montreal Impact of the

USL First Division The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second ...

, where during his six seasons with the organization he won a league championship, and a

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship () is an annual soccer tournament contested by Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. It is contested by Major League Soccer sides Toronto FC, Va ...

Career

College and amateur

Gatti, born in

Welland Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, it had a population of 55,750. The city is in the centre of Niagara and located within a half-hour driving distance to Niagara Falls, Niagara-on ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, is a dual Canadian-French citizen. He was a trialist for

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy ...

's U-17 youth team in 1999, and played for French club

Racing Club de Paris Racing Club de France Football, commonly known as Racing Club de France (), is a French football club based in the Paris suburb of Colombes. The club was founded in 1882 as a multi-discipline sports club, and is one of the oldest clubs in Fr ...

' youth team in 2000, before returning to North America to attend college. Gatti also won the Ontario Cup twice with the Thorold Cobras in 1998 and 1999 and placed second at the national championships with the Cobras in 1999. Gatti played

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

with

from 2002 to 2005, leading the team as co-captain from 2003 to 2005 while majoring in

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, Biomechanics, biomechanical, Pathology, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kines ...

. In total he played 85 games, tallied 10 goals, eight assists and 28 points. As a freshman, the midfielder was chosen for the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. The A-10's member schools are located most ...

All-Rookie Team. He was proclaimed team MVP in 2005 and selected to the First Team All-Conference, and First Team All New England, helping the Rams win the Atlantic 10 Division Championship again (2002, 2005). As a sophomore, he was a Second Team All-Atlantic 10 Conference and Third Team All-New England. During the summers of 2004 and 2005, he also played in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

with the Rhode Island Stingrays, playing 19 games, scoring two goals and picking up one assist. He had a brief stint with the St. Catharines Wolves of the Canadian Professional Soccer League in 2002, but wasn't allowed to re-sign with the club for the 2003 season due to risking his scholarship.

Professional

Gatti joined the Montreal Impact as their first pick during the 2006

college draft, chosen 12th overall. He played his first game with the Impact on May 21, coming onto the field for Antonio Ribeiro at the 82nd minute of play. He earned his first start against the

Toronto Lynx Toronto Lynx was a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1997, the team last played in the 2014 season of the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Great Lakes D ...

on September 8. That year, he helped Montreal win the regular-season title as well as the Voyageurs Cup. During his second season with the Impact, he was one of 13 players in the USL to play all 28 games. His versatility and steadfastness was in evidence as the longtime midfielder played right fullback in 22 out of 28 games, helping the Impact to register the second-best defense in 2007, with 14 shutouts and only 21 goals in 28 games. He quickly surpassed his 2006 minutes played (157 minutes), playing a total of 2,046 minutes. His first career point came on June 29, with an assist to Antonio Ribeiro's game-winning goal in a 1-0 win over the

Puerto Rico Islanders The Puerto Rico Islanders were a professional association football team based in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. They played in several different leagues from 2004 to 2012, when they suspended operations. In their last two seasons they played in the Nort ...

. He was named to the USL D1 Team of the Week for week 14 and received the Unsung Hero Award/Quatrième étoile de l’Impact at the end of the season. In his third season, he exceeded his previous record by playing 2,068 minutes, the second highest on the team. He started 24 of 27 games played, and helped the Impact advance in the CONCACAF Champions League with 8 games played (7 game starts). During his fourth season (2009), Gatti started 18 of 21 games played, racking up 1,463 minutes, and helping the Impact to win the USL Championship. During his fifth season, Gatti was sidelined with a hernia and started 11 of 18 games played. Gatti's sixth and final season with the Montreal Impact (2011) was his finest. He led the team both with 22 game starts in 23 games, and with 1,953 minutes. He reached his 100th career game start and received the Unsung Hero Award/Quatrième étoile de l’Impact for the second time in his career. His final statistics with the Montreal Impact include 122 games played, 100 game starts and 8,656 minutes played. Gatti announced his retirement in February 2012 and was subsequently hired by th
Montreal Impact Academy
to coach the U-14 team as part of the Montreal Impact Sport-Études program.

Honors

Montreal Impact

Championship (1):

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Career stats

References

External links

University of Rhode Island profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gatti, Simon 1981 births Living people Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Canadian men's soccer players Canadian sportspeople of Italian descent Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Men's association football defenders Montreal Impact (1992–2011) players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players Soccer people from Ontario Sportspeople from Welland Rhode Island Stingrays players St. Catharines Roma Wolves players USL League Two players USL First Division players USSF Division 2 Professional League players Rhode Island Rams men's soccer players CF Montréal non-playing staff 21st-century Canadian sportsmen