DLSAANC De La Salle Alumni Association of Northern California - Filipino Lasallians Residing in Northern California

In recognition of his contribution to the development of the USA soccer referee program, former De La Salle soccer player and Philippine Football Federation Secretary-General Fernando Alvarez GS, HS’44 has been posthumously honored as one of two inductees of the Cal North Hall of Fame for the year 2016. Alvarez passed on in 2013 but his contribution lives on with the strong pool of US referees who are now very much engaged in officiating international soccer matches and of course several others in the Philippines that he has mentored. Also, Alvarez introduced the substitution signal for incoming and outgoing players that remain in use during soccer games.

Alvarez was a lifelong supporter of soccer beginning his DLS days and even after immigrating to the US in the 1990s. He made his mark internationally though as a referee and as soccer mentor. For his years of contribution to the sport, Alvarez was awarded by the world’s soccer organization FIFA (Federacion Internationale de Football Association) its highest honor, the Centennial Order of Merit, in 2005 upon the nomination of the Philippine Football Federation. The next year, Alvarez was inducted in the DLSU Hall of Fame.