Marie-Claude Dion
Personal information
Full name Marie-Claude Dion
Date of birth (1974-04-25) April 25, 1974[1]
Place of birth Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
Height 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)[1]
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
1991–1993 Dynamo de Quebec
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1998 Laval Rouge et Or
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
0000–2000 Dynamo de Quebec
2000 Ottawa Fury
2001 Laval Dynamites
International career
1996–2001 Canada 27 (0)
Medal record
Women's football
Representing  Canada
CONCACAF W Championship
Gold medal – first place1998 Canada
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Marie-Claude Dion (born April 25, 1974) is a former Canadian soccer player who played as a defender. She made 27 appearances for the Canadian national team and was part of the squad that won gold at the 1998 CONCACAF Women's Championship.[1]

Early life

Born in Quebec City in 1974, Dion started playing soccer in Beauport at the age of eight.[1] She was first noticed by the Canada Soccer Association in 1989, during a tournament played in Edmonton.[2] In 1991, she joined the newly-founded Dynamo de Quebec, who played in the Ligue de soccer élite du Québec (LSEQ).[3]

College career

Dion started studying at Laval University in the fall of 1994; at the time, the school did not have a women's soccer programme.[2] Later that year, a team was finally established, led by Head Coach Helder Duarte, who also coached the Dynamo de Quebec.[2][4] In her first year playing for the Rouge et Or, Dion finished first in team scoring with 12 goals and was named to the U Sports All-Canadian Second Team.[5][6] Additionally, she was named to the RSEQ First Team All-Star and voted the RSEQ Rookie of the Year.[7][8] In her second season, she won the Chantal Navert Memorial Award, which is awarded annually to the U Sports women's soccer Player of the Year,[8][9] and was named to the U Sports All-Canadian First Team for the first time.[8] She also won the RSEQ Player of the Year award and was included in the RSEQ First Team All-Star for the second consecutive season.[10][8] In her third year, she received RSEQ First Team All-Star and U Sports All-Canadian Second Team honours again.[8] In her final season with the team, she was once again named the RSEQ Player of the Year and received RSEQ First Team All-Star honours for the fourth straight year.[11][8] She was also named to the U Sports All-Canadian First Team for the second time.[8] Thus, in April 1999, she was one of six athletes to be honoured at the annual Gala du Mérite Sportif Rouge et Or.[12]

Club career

After graduating from Laval University, Dion briefly relocated to British Columbia to pursue her soccer career.[3] From 2000 to 2002, she played in the USL W-League.[3] In 2000, she played for the Ottawa Fury.[13] The following year, she signed for the Laval Dynamites.[14]

International career

Dion was the first-ever female player from Quebec to be invited to a Canadian national team camp.[3] She was part of the team that represented Canada at the 1993 Summer Universiade in Buffalo, New York, coached by Sylvie Béliveau.[3]

On May 12, 1996, at the age of 22, Dion made her debut for the national team in Worcester, Massachusetts, playing the full 90 minutes in a 6–0 loss to the United States at the 1996 Women's U.S. Cup.[15] In 1997, she played again at the 1997 Women's U.S. Cup.[7][1] One year later, she was part of the team that won the 1998 CONCACAF Women's Championship, which served as a qualifier for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup.[1][2] In 2000, she participated at the 2000 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup, where Canada finished in fourth place.[1] She made her 27th and final national team appearance on March 15, 2001, in a 2–1 victory over Portugal at the 2001 Algarve Cup.[16]

Dion officially retired from the national team in the summer of 2002, at the age of 28.[2]

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Canada[1] 199650
199730
199880
199920
200080
200110
Total270

Honours

International

Canada

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Marie-Claude Dion player profile". Canada Soccer Association. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Tardif, Jean-François (September 28, 2015). "Marie-Claude Dion: respecter ses limites". Le Soleil (in French). Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "L'Encre - Février 2017". L'Encre (in French). Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  4. ↑ Tougas, Marc (March 21, 2019). "Helder Duarte, un monument inachevé". viaupark.ca (in French). Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  5. ↑ Dion, Rémi (November 16, 1995). "UNE NOMINATION POUR MARIE-CLAUDE DION". Archives Nouvelles ULaval (in French). Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  6. ↑ Dion, Rémi (April 8, 1996). "Claude Lessard et François Bilodeau, athlètes de l'année". Archives Nouvelles ULaval (in French). Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  7. 1 2 Breault, Yvan; Dion, Rémi (June 5, 1997). "Le sports, 5 juin 1997". Archives Nouvelles ULaval (in French). Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Honneurs par étoiles / Prix majeurs" (in French). Laval Rouge et Or. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  9. ↑ "CHANTAL NAVERT MEMORIAL AWARD (PLAYER OF THE YEAR)" (PDF). U Sports. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  10. ↑ Dion, Rémi (October 31, 1996). "SEPT JOUEUSES SÉLECTIONNÉES SUR LES ÉQUIPES D'ÉTOILES PROVINCIALES". Archives Nouvelles ULaval (in French). Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  11. ↑ Bélanger, Michel (November 5, 1998). "Le sports". Archives Nouvelles ULaval (in French). Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  12. ↑ Bélanger, Michel (April 8, 1999). "Le sports du 8 avril 1999". Archives Nouvelles ULaval (in French). Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Canada to play Two Friendlies". Canada Soccer Association. August 3, 2000. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Les Dynamites de Laval amorcent leur saison samedi". Réseau des sports (in French). May 28, 2001. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Canada 0 - 6 USA". Canada Soccer Association. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  16. ↑ "Canada 2 - 1 Portugal". Canada Soccer Association. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
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