Ron Bergeron
Sport: Soccer
Year Inducted: 2008
Ron Bergeron is inducted into the Cornwall Sports Hall of Fame as a builder for his two plus decades of dedication to excellence in soccer.
Ron wore many hats during a career that spanned from 1976 to 1999. He has been a coach, referee, coordinator, sponsor, Director and President of two associations.
After eight years on the Kinsmen Minor Soccer Association Board of Directors, Ron was elected President in 1985. Over the next few years, Ron was an integral part of making soccer viable and affordable despite the loss of government funding. He introduced the concept of mini-soccer to 8 year olds with the focus shifting from competition to skills, learning and fun as well as introducing youth referees to the system.
Ron was a pioneer for girls only soccer teams in Cornwall after seeing declining enrollment in co-ed leagues. He was also the guiding force behind the creation of the various divisions of girls soccer that exist today.
In 1991, after 20 years of borrowing fields from schools, city parks and changing venues, Ron was a key figure in a $100,000 Federal Grant and a $25,000 gift from the City of Cornwall to build the soccer fields that still stand today in the West end of the city. The fields are named “Kinsmen Bergeron Knight Fields.”
Ron was also a contributor to the soccer fields at Optimist Park by ensuring lights and routine maintenance. Players from all the teams that he either coached or served as an executive will always remember Ron’s dedication to their developement and the sport of soccer.