Hector Leonardo Marinaro

Héctor Leonardo Marinaro Sr. (23 July 1931 – 30 January 2017) was an Argentine football player and coach. A central defender, he played professionally in Argentina, El Salvador, Mexico and Canada before becoming a coach and general manager for several indoor and outdoor professional teams in the Toronto area.

Player Marinaro began his professional career with Racing Club of the Argentine first division when he was sixteen years old. Six years later, he transferred to second division club Almagro. Four years later, at age 26, he moved to El Salvador club CD FAS. He spent five seasons in El Salvador, winning three championships (1959, 1962 and 1963). In 1961, he spent the summer playing on loan with Montreal Concordia in the Québec National Soccer League. Concordia won the league championship and Marinaro was named the league MVP, but had to return to El Salvador immediately after the championship game and before the awards presentation. In 2006, he was finally awarded the trophy which had disappeared for over twenty years. In addition to playing in the NSL, Concordia also entered the International Soccer League. In 1962, he played on loan with Mexican club Tampico. In 1963, Marinaro left El Salvador and moved to Canada permanently. That year, he joined Toronto Italia of the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League.

In 1971, he joined the Ontario Soccer Association as a staff coach. He held that position until 1976 when he became the coach of the Toronto Italia. In 1986, he has hired as the head coach of the Toronto Blizzard of the Canadian Soccer League (CSL).

Personal Marinaro continued to live in Canada. His sons, Héctor and Rob both played professionally and currently coach collegiate soccer in the United States. He died on 30 January 2017.