Athlete: Soccer
Year Inducted: 2024
Date of Birth: May 30, 1966
Born in: Georgetown, Guyana

Lyndon Hooper has just about seen it all in the soccer world – from his first kicks in Zambia, to the local pitches in Nepean, to stadiums with 100,000+ fans in Mexico, and now helping the next generation of players and coaches in Ontario.

Born in Guyana, Hooper moved to Ottawa at age 11 and played for the Nepean Hotspurs and Ottawa Royals in his youth. He debuted with the Canadian under-19 men’s team in 1985 was an All-Canadian with the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks.

The steady and effective midfielder appeared in 67 senior men’s international games for Team Canada between 1986 and 2005, which still ranks him top-10 for most appearances all-time.

Hooper represented Canada at multiple CONCACAF Gold Cups and in three cycles of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. He narrowly missed securing a berth for the 1994 edition, but played in Canada’s 1-1 exhibition draw with Brazil just six weeks before the Brazilians won the World Cup. Hooper also played for Canada at the inaugural FIFA Futsal World Cup and was a Jeux de la Francophonie champion in 1989.

Hooper played professionally in Canada, England and the U.S., starting with the National Capital Pioneers in 1987. He also played for the Montreal Supra and Toronto Blizzard in the original Canadian Soccer League and later joined the Montreal Impact and Toronto Lynx in the USL A-League before concluding his playing career as a Canadian amateur club champion with Scarborough. He now works for Ontario Soccer in coaching development.

Local coaches use Hooper as a shining example of a model player and human, having played the game with incredible passion and skill, while displaying class, sportsmanship and humility.

Hooper joined his sister Charmaine in the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame, as well as the Canadian Sports and Canada Soccer Halls, and they both share the honour of having local parks named after them.