Vancouver Whitecaps News Release - www.whitecapsfc.com

Thursday, May 29, 2008

VANCOUVER, BC -- The Confratellanza Italo-Canadese will present Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi with the 2008 Angelo Branca Sports Person of the Year Award on Thursday, June 5, at the Italian Cultural Centre.

"We are proud to honour Bob Lenarduzzi as our second recipient of the Angelo Branca Sports Person of the Year Award," said Angelo Holmes, Chair of the Confratellanza Italo-Canadese Gentlemen’s Dinner. "His achievements as a player, coach and executive as well his lifelong involvement in the sport of soccer, in addition to his commitment to the community, epitomize the qualities that this award stands for, making him a fine role model for the Italian-Canadian community."

The Confratellanza Italo-Canadese not only recognizes Bob Lenarduzzi for these achievements, but wishes to recognize his leadership towards the completion of a waterfront stadium in Vancouver.

The Angelo Branca Sports Person of the Year Award is given to an Italian-Canadian in honour of the late Honourable Justice Angelo E. Branca, Q.C.L.L.D. and founder of the Confratellanza Italo-Canadese (Italian-Canadian Brotherhood). The award recognizes dedication to athletics in addition to exemplary community service.

More on the Angelo Branca Sports Person of the Year Award:

Well-known as a gladiator in both the courts and the boxing ring, Angelo Branca had a distinguished career as a Canadian amateur boxer, having won the Middleweight championship in the 1930s. The recently restored championship trophy has remained with his family since that time and will be displayed year-round at the Italian Cultural Centre in Vancouver.

Widely regarded as the most influential Italian-Canadian of his era, Branca began practicing law in 1926 and quickly became a leading defence attorney. By the age of 36, he was British Columbia’s youngest-ever crown prosecutor, and was a Judge with the B.C. Supreme Court of Appeal from 1966 to 1978.