The Robbie International Soccer Tournament has taken a number of steps in its 43 year history to achieve the status as one of the world’s most famous and prestigious soccer tournaments, including:

 

- Awarding the first tournament championship as far back as 1967;

- seeing girls teams in ‘The Robbie for the first time in 1972;

-  teams from the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia competing in the tournament for the first time over various years;

- in 2004, passing the million dollar mark in donations to charities.

On Thursday, October 23 of this year, ‘The Robbie’ took its latest step forward as the tournament and its founder, the late John Wimbs (who passed away in 2004 at the age of 76), were inducted on to the Scarborough Walk of Fame. The Robbie International Soccer Tournament is named after Robbie Wimbs, who suffered from cystic fibrosis until his passing in 1996 at the age of 33.

 

On a happier note, receiving a star on the Scarborough Walk of Fame is truly a wonderful honour as John Wimbs and The Robbie International Soccer Tournament were inducted with other luminaries including:

 

- World-famous dramatic tenor and Officer within the Order of Canada Ben Heppner

 

- Grammy-nominated multiple Juno-winning R & B vocalist and actress Deborah Cox;
 

- former National Hockey League forward Rick Middleton whose career with the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins and Team Canada included three trips to the Stanley Cup Finals with the Bruins and a 1984 Canada Cup championship;

 

- Earl Campbell, CEO and Director of Education of the Scarborough Board of Education from 1992-1998;

- the late Dr. Sheela Basrur, who served as Toronto’s and Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health before passing away on June 2, 2008 after an 18-month battle with a rare and aggressive form of cancer

John Wimbs, Jr. spoke on behalf of the Wimbs family (John Sr.’s widow Rosalyn and sister Betsy were in attendance as well) and accepted a special certificate at the daytime ceremony held at the Scarborough Town Centre. It is there that the actual star was revealed on the Scarborough Walk of Fame. John, Jr. also spoke at the Walk of Fame’s Gala Dinner held at the Delta Toronto East, both a major sponsor of the Scarborough Walk of Fame and the Robbie International Soccer Tournament, where he was presented with a beautiful glass sculpture for the family.

Co-chairs of ‘The Robbie’, Mike Burke and Laura Cvik, accepted similar mementos of the day and evening on behalf of the tournament itself.

The Scarborough Walk of Fame is situated along a tile strip between the north and south sides of the Scarborough Town Centre’s Food Court. However, this writer won’t spoil the surprise and tell you who the other inductees from 2006 and 2007 were. Why not check out the Scarborough Walk of Fame for yourself on your next trip to the Scarborough Town Centre!

 

Glenn Sutherland, Publicity and Archiving

The Robbie International Soccer Tournament