Graeme Bali – GM, Ottawa Internationals Soccer Club
“Graeme epitomizes player development in a safe and protective environment and has really gone the extra mile – time and time again – to provide for the players of OISC.”
— Fawn Mulholland, nominator
Graeme Bali has worked tirelessly on and off the pitch throughout the pandemic to ensure youth soccer players had a safe environment to play alongside their friends and teammates.
He has spent countless nights at the pitch and worked 60-plus-hour selfless weeks on the pitch, zoom calls and board meetings on behalf of players in the name of their development and enjoyment. His family has often helped alleviate some of the late-night workload at the field. His daughter has offered coaching support and his son and wife – a frontline worker by day, club volunteer by night – have helped with sanitization.
Bali has a long history of involvement in sport. He began playing soccer as a four-year-old in Hamilton. At 12, he started coaching at the old Ottawa Boys and Girls Club on Nepean St. in Ottawa. He continues to work as a volunteer and professional administrator, staying involved in shaping sport locally.
“I value all of these experiences greatly,” says Bali. “I have received so much from sports in general – which definitely challenges my thinking about myself as a ‘hero’.”
“As a child from a challenging single-parent home in the 1970’s sport was my life and gave me more than my teammates or coaches ever knew,” he says. “As a coach, I think having 30 or so former players at our wedding is all the thanks and recognition I could have wanted.”
“Simply, I know what sport has given to me, so I want to give back,” says Bali, who was nominated by Fawn Mulholland, an OISC coach. “I am quite surprised, definitely grateful, and absolutely humbled.”