Tony Nocita (born 9 November 1963) is a former professional

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who currently coaches the

FC Winnipeg Lions The FC Winnipeg Lions (formerly known as Sons of Italy Lions Soccer Club), formed in 1995, is a Canadian soccer club that competes in the Manitoba Major Soccer League. History Founded in 1995 as Sons of Italy Lions, the club officially change ...

. He has been inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 2003. The Winnipeg Fury's 1992 Mita Cup winning team will be inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.

Club career

Nocita played for the

Winnipeg Fury The Winnipeg Fury were a professional soccer team in Winnipeg, Canada. The team was part of the Canadian Soccer League from 1987 to 1992. They were one of four teams to participate in every season of the CSL. In 1993, they played in the Canadia ...

of the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

beginning in 1987, and was a member of the 1992 Championship team. He served as the team captain for the Fury in 1993 during the team's run in the

Canadian National Soccer League The National Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada that existed from 1926 to 1997. Teams were primarily based in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The league was renamed to Canadian National Soccer League in 1993 following the folding ...

. In 1994, he played in the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. ...

with the Toronto Rockets.

International career

Nicknamed ''Chita'', he made his debut for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in an October 1987 friendly match against

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

. He went on to earn 8 caps, all friendlies, scoring no goals. His final international was an April 1992 game against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Coaching career

He has coached

for several years as well as

Calgary Storm The Calgary Mustangs (formerly the Calgary Storm and Team Calgary) were a soccer team in Calgary, Alberta, that played in the semi-professional Premier Development League, USL Premier Development League in 2001 and the professional A-League (199 ...

Honours

: 1 :: 1992

References

External links

Player profile
- Sons of Italy Lions * * 1963 births Living people Soccer players from Winnipeg Men's association football defenders Canadian men's soccer players Canada men's international soccer players Winnipeg Fury players Hamilton Steelers (1981–1992) players Toronto Rockets (soccer) players Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players Canadian National Soccer League players American Professional Soccer League players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen {{Canada-footy-bio-stub