John Fusco : Stellar Lacrosse Player
John Fusco
embodied the spirit of the Brooklin Redmen
Born in Oshawa, John Fusco grew up playing lacrosse in the Garrard Road minor lacrosse system before moving to the Junior “A” level in 1980. He played lacrosse from 1980 through 1984 for the Whitby Junior ‘A’ team, 18 seasons with the Brooklin Redmen of the Major Lacrosse series (1981, 1983, 1985-2002), and one season with the National Lacrosse League (1991).
John was on two Minto Cup championship teams (Junior A) 1980 and 1984. During his junior career, Fusco was in the OLA Junior “A” League top seven point getters every season. John went onto to be a member of and five Mann Cup championship teams (Major lacrosse), 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, and 2000. He was Rookie-of-the-Year in 1980 and won the Bucko MacDonald Trophy as top scorer in the Major Series in 1986 as well as the Jim Murphy Trophy for the Major Series MVP in 1991.
When he retired from playing, John was on the list of top 50 box lacrosse players at the Major level with 832 assists. His career totals with the Redmen were 421 games played, 382 goals, 832 assists for a total of 1214 points. He is also the 4th all-time career playmaker and the 11th all-time point getter at the Junior A level.
John Fusco #15
John Fusco was inducted into the Whitby Sports Hall of Fame in 2006 as part of the 1980 Minto Cup team. He has been inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in . in 2010 and the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2024.
JOHN FUSCO CAREER MILESTONES
1980 - P.C.O. TROPHY AS OUTSTANDING ROOKIE IN JUNIOR A SERIES
1980 - MEMBER OF MINTO CUP WINNING WHITBY C.B.C. BUILDERS TEAM
1981 - 2ND IN SCORING IN JUNIOR A SERIES
1982 - 2RD IN SCORING IN JUNIOR A SERIES
1983 - 4TH IN SCORING IN JUNIOR A SERIES
1984 - 3TH IN SCORING IN JUNIOR A SERIES
1984 - VOTED TO 2ND ALL-STAR TEAM IN O.L.A. JUNIOR A SERIES
1984 - MEMBER OF MINTO CUP WINNING WHITBY WARRIORS TEAM
1985 - 7TH IN SCORING IN O.L.A. MAJOR SERIES
1986 - BUCKO MacDONALD TROPHY AS TOP SCORER IN MAJOR SERIES
1987 - 8TH IN SCORING IN O.L.A. MAJOR SERIES
1989 - 7TH IN SCORING IN O.L.A. MAJOR/SENIOR SERIES
1985, 1987, 1988 AND 1990 - MEMBER OF MANN CUP WINNING BROOKLIN REDMEN TEAM
1990 - 4TH IN SCORING IN O.L.A. MAJOR/SENIOR SERIES]
1991 - 4TH IN SCORING IN NATIONAL LACROSSE LEAGUE PRO SERIES
1991 - 2ND IN SCORING IN O.L.A. MAJOR/SENIOR SERIES
1991 - JIM MURPHY TROPHY - MOST VALUABLE PLAYER IN O.L.A. MAJOR SERIES
1994 - 5TH IN SCORING IN O.L.A. MAJOR SERIES
4TH ALL-TIME CAREER PLAYMAKER IN JUNIOR A SERIES - 403 ASSISTS
11TH ALL-TIME CAREER POINTGETTER IN JUNIOR A SERIES - 597 POINTS
2000 - MEMBER OF CANADIAN MANN CUP WINNING BROOKLIN REDMEN TEAM
A great guy...way to go John...you deserve the recognition 👏 🙌 👌
ReplyDeleteFusco is 2nd all time in scoring for Brooklin to Shawn Williams, and 2nd all time in pims to Scott McMichael. Those states along with the facts that Fusco was Brooklin Captain for a decade and won 5 Mann Cups, paints a picture of the kind of player he was. Arguably one of the best all around box lacrosse players ever.
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