MONTREAL – Matthew Soles, the 20-year-old son of football legend Michael Soles, has been recruited to McGill University in the hopes of playing in his father's footsteps. The news was announced by McGill football head coach Ronald Hilaire on the eve of Friday's home opener against Concordia. The cross-town rivals with compete in the 51^st annual Shaughnessy Cup game at 4 p.m. at Percival Molson Stadium.
 
Matthew, a six-foot, 223-pound fullback who has been clocked at 4.6 seconds in the 40-yard dash, was recruited to Queen's University last year, where he sat out his freshman year with an injury. During his high school days with the Loyola Warriors and the Trinity College School Bears in Port Hope, Ont., the native of Pte. Claire, Que., played at running back and linebacker. He helped the Warriors win back-to-back GMAA championships in 2014 and 2015. He also played for the Lakeshore Cougars and won leadership awards with both the Bears and Warriors.
 
"Matthew's definitely a high energy kid and was fearless on both sides of the ball when he played at Trinity," said Hilaire. "He showed some great athletic abilities and I think that he will translate that well at the fullback position in our conference."
 
Once the registration paperwork has been completed, Soles plans to study physical education at McGill and is expected to go through the formal admissions and registration process early next week, which would allow him to practice with the team.

His father, Michael, has been battling ALS —  more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease — since 2005. He had a storied athletic career at St. Thomas High School, John Abbott College and McGill, where he led the team to the Vanier Cup national championship as a sophomore in 1987 and was later inducted to the University's Sports Hall of Fame. After graduating in only three years, he embarked on an 11-year pro career in the Canadian Football League, winning a Grey Cup ring with Edmonton in 1993 and closing out his playing career with  the Montreal Alouettes.
 
In 2014, his former McGill teammates announced the establishment of the Michael Soles Football Award, an endowment fund in his honour -- which has raised almost $229,000 -- that would provide scholarships to help the school's varsity program.

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SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
Office: 514-398-7012
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca