Silvana Burtini Inducted Into BC Sports Hall Of Fame

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One of Canada’s best female soccer players, if not greatest players period, will inducted into the BC Sports Hall Of Fame this fall.

Born in Williams Lake, Silvana Burtini spent seventeen years with the Canadian Women’s national team, from 1987 till 2003. During her time with the national team and during her time with two different clubs, she had a long and successful career.

During her time with the national team, she let the team to the 1998 CONCACAF Women’s championship. She led the team to three other CONCACAF medal finishes as well. Silver in 1994 and 2002, and bronze in 1993. During the 1998 tournament, she scored eight goals, won the golden boot as the tournament’s leading scorer, and also named the MVP of the entire tournament.

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She also represented Canada at the FIFA Women’s World cup, appearing on the team in 1995, 1999, and 2003. In those four appearances with the team, she helped lead them to their best finish yet for the national women’s team, a fourth place finish in 2003.

For her entire international career, she earned 77 caps, and scored 38 goals. Those goals still stand as the fourth all-time ranked among Canadian Women. She also twice set the Canadian national goal record for a single game, once in 1994 against Mexico, and then broke that record in 1998 when she scored 8 goals against Puerto Rico.

During her club career, she helped the Raleigh Wings win the 1999 USL W-League championship, and was also drafted to the Carolina Courage for the inaugural WUSA season in 2001, where she scored four goals in 17 matches.

This is also not her first time being inducted into a Hall of Fame, or high personal accolades after retirement. She was named to the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame in 2010, the BC Soccer Hall of Fame in 2012, The Canada Soccer’s Women’s Player of the Year in 1998, and was also named to one of Canada Soccer’s Top 30 Players of the Past Century in 2012.

After retiring, she became a police officer with the Vancouver Police Department. She has received the British Columbia Police Award of Valor for saving a life in 2004, and also an award from The Governor General of Canada, receiving the Police Exemplary Service Medal on August 26th, 2022.

Silvana, and the rest of the 2026 BC Sports Hall of Fame will be inducted later this year in the fall, after all of the FIFA World Cup festivities of the summer die down. To find out more about the BC Sports Hall of Fame, you can click here.