Jamaica-born Charmaine Crooks was elected president of Canada Soccer at its annual general meeting on the weekend.

She was elevated to interim president from vice-president in late February after Nick Bontis resigned, acknowledging change was needed to achieve labour peace with the Canadian men’s and women’s national teams.

Crooks is the first woman and the first person of colour to lead the organization.

A member of the Order of Canada, Crooks is a five-time Olympian and silver medallist from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics as a member of the 4×400-metre relay team. The first Canadian woman to run the 800 metres in under two minutes, Crooks has won gold medals at World Cups, the Pan American Games and the Commonwealth Games.

She has been on the Canada Soccer board since 2013-14 and was elected vice-president in November 2020. She served on several Canada Soccer committees, including the emergency, strategic planning and risk management committees. She also served as Canada’s head of delegation at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014, the 2018 CONCACAF Women’s Championship, and the 2020 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament.