Terry Felix (born 9 September 1959) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

retired

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who earned three caps for the national team in 1983. He played club soccer for the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

competing in the North American Soccer League (NASL). He was the first indigenous player to play professionally in North America, and the first to represent Canada.

Early life

Felix was born in

Matsqui Matsqui is a former district municipality in British Columbia, Canada. It was incorporated in 1892 and merged with the district municipality of Abbotsford in 1995 to create the new City of Abbotsford. Matsqui used to be the western part of what is ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. His father Peter was born on the Chehalis Indian Reserve in Agassiz and his mother Dolores was born on the Katzie Indian Reserve near Vancouver; Felix himself was raised on the Sts'ailes First Nation Indian Reservation. He began playing soccer at the age of six.

Club career

At the age of 16 Felix joined Sasquatch Inn SC. On 10 July 1983 Felix made his professional debut for the

in front of 50,000 fans in a match against the New York Cosmos. In doing so he became the first indigenous soccer player to play professionally in North America. He made 8 appearances in total that season, scoring two goals and making one assist. He retired after suffering a ligament injury.

International career

He represented Canada in Olympic Qualifiers and made five international appearances in 1983 for the national senior team, including three caps. In doing so he became the first indigenous player to represent Canada.

Later life

Felix married and had seven children, and worked full time on the Sts'ailes First Nation reserve, whilst also working as a prison counsellor. In 2022, he won the Indspire Award in the sports category. Terry received the Inspire Award in the sports category in 2022.

References

External links

* 1961 births Living people 20th-century First Nations people Men's association football forwards Canada men's international soccer players Canadian men's soccer players Coast Salish people First Nations sportspeople North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Soccer people from British Columbia Sportspeople from Abbotsford, British Columbia Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players {{Canada-footy-bio-stub