Felix Gelt

Felix M. Gelt is a Canadian retired association football player representing municipal, provincial, varsity, national, semi and professional teams.

Felix M. Gelt
Personal information
Full name Felix M. Gelt
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
1996–2000 UBC Thunderbirds Varsity Team (CIS)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–1999 Calgary Celtic/Callies (APL)
2001–2005 Vancouver Whitecaps (Reserve Squad); North York Astros (CPSL)
National team
2001, 2005, 2009 [Maccabi Canada (Captain)]
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:28, 3 March 2010 (UTC)

Biography

Felix was a center defender through most of his playing career and shifted to right back later in his career. He was best known for his leadership, tenacity and fierce competitive spirit to win!

During his youth, Felix grew up playing soccer in southwest Calgary for Fish Creek Park followed by Foothills Football Club. During those early years, he led his team as the Captain to winning multiple municipal and provincial championships in Alberta, Canada. In 1990, Felix was the youngest player in Alberta history to make the U-15 provincial squad at the age of 12. He went on to become the Captain of the Alberta provincial team[1] for several consecutive years growing through the U-15, U-17 and Youth programs. He competed at 5 consecutive National Championships winning several bronze medals. In 1997, Felix represented Team Alberta the at the Canadian Summer Games[2] in Brandon, Manitoba.[3]

Based on his provincial play at competitive competitions, Felix was invited to Canadian National team try-outs for the U-17 and U-21.[4] Despite not making the squads, this experience was quintessential in his growth athletically and personally.

In 1996, Felix was recruited to join The University of British Columbia (UBC) to play for the Men's Varsity Soccer Team,[5] which has the most victorious record of all Canadian Universities. Through his athletic and academic scholarships, Felix played 4 years at UBC winning 3 Canada West Championships and a silver at the 1999 Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) National Championships. During his Varsity career, Felix was a scholar off the field where he pursued a Bachelor of Commerce degree. He was recognized as an Academic All-Canadian, an award for student athletes who combine athletic excellence with strong academic performance.

Post Varsity, Felix joined the Vancouver Whitecaps training and reserve squad given their affiliation with UBC. In 2001, he moved to Toronto, Ontario to join the Canadian Maccabi Team and to play semi-professional in the Canadian Professional Soccer League (CPSL) with the North York Astros[6] from 2001 to 2005.[7]

Felix was Captain of the first outdoor men's soccer team that Maccabi Canada sent to the Maccabi Games in 2005.[8] This experience culminated with beating the two-time defending champions Argentina 1–0 in the opening game of the tournament. Despite not advancing past their group, their victory over Argentina took the 2-time defending champions out of the tournament and shocked the international Maccabi soccer scene with Team Canada's performance. Four years later in 2009, Team Canada[9] managed to advance to the quarter-final stage with a heart breaking loss to Mexico. At that point, Felix tied up his laces and retired from International and competitive playing to focus on his professional career. Felix leveraged his sporting experiences and mentality to advance a career as a Management Consultant[10] where he leads companies to greater profitability[11] through unleashing performance.

Playing career

In 2005 and 2009, Gelt was named as Captain of the Canadian football squad competing at the 2005 Maccabiah Games and 2009 Maccabiah Games in Israel.[12]

Statistics
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Canada League Voyageurs Cup League Cup North America Total
2001North York AstrosCPSL----------
Career total ----------

Footnotes
  1. "Provincial Team Program". Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  2. "1997 Canada Summer Games in Brandon, MB - Canada Games". www.canadagames.ca. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  4. "Home - Canada Soccer". www.canadasoccer.com. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  5. "The University of British Columbia Athletics". gothunderbirds.ca. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  6. "Wednesday October 10, 2001 CPSL Toronto Croatia vs North York Astros". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  7. Books, L. L. C. (1 September 2010). Canadian Professional Soccer League Players: Charles Gbeke, Elvis Thomas, Dave Simpson, Atiba Hutchinson, Tom Kouzmanis. General Books LLC. ISBN 9781156803080.
  8. "2005 Delegation - Maccabi Canada". Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  9. "Soccer Open Men". 14 July 2011. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 November 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 November 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. "Soccer Open Men". Maccabi Canada. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2009.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.