“Gary Miller put the ball at the feet of Canadians.”

It’s a throat-softening sentiment expressed about Gary Miller, one of Canada’s great soccer pioneers and important builders who passed away from a heart attack on Wednesday at the age of 63.

The outpouring of emotion from the Canadian soccer community over Miller’s death has been immense.

Canada Soccer vice-president Nick Bontis called Miller “a true leader in our community,” Concacaf president Victor Montagliani reflected that “the game has lost a true servant,” while former Canadian women’s international Carmelina Moscato lamented the loss of “a friend, a colleague and good person.”

Eva Havaris, the CPL’s vice president of strategy and league operations, noted that Miller “committed his entire career to making the game better for everyone involved and supported numerous players and coaches along the way.”

CPL Commissioner David Clanachan called Miller “the definition of soccer in Canada.”

“His contributions to all levels of the game in Canada, including his support with League1 Ontario and his invaluable insights as we launched the Canadian Premier League were significant,” Clanachan said. “The CPL’s thoughts and prayers are with his family and all the extended soccer family he touched through his incredible career.”

Miller most recently served as Ontario Soccer’s Director of Soccer Operations, and on the Canada Soccer and League1 Ontario technical committees. He was also a key figure in the creation of Canada’s top leagues, including the Canadian Premier League and League1 Ontario.

Johnny Misley, CEO of Ontario Soccer, said he had the ball put to his feet by Miller five years ago.

“He’s put the ball at the feet of people who run soccer businesses, influential people, to appreciate the history of our game,” Misley began when speaking with CanPL.ca.

“He was the person who put the ball to my feet, to give me the history of the game in Ontario and Canada. (He) allowed me to understand my responsibility to look out of the game past and present.”

The soccer world last night lost a respected leader, pioneer and teammate in the sport. Most important of all, a tremendous father and husband in the Miller family. RIP Gary. The ⚽️ is at the feet of many players because of you. pic.twitter.com/8cRUMiTtIa

— Johnny Misley (@Jmizz20) May 14, 2020

A standout defender at Western University in the 1970s, Miller was inducted to the Western Mustangs Hall of Fame in 2004.

Later on, he served for Ontario Soccer as a technical director (1985-1990) and director of high performance (1992-1994) before returning to become director of soccer operations (2015-2020). He also had a stint as Canada Soccer’s high performance director from 1990 to 1992.

Miller helped build and launch League1 Ontario in 2013, a first-of-its-kind “high-performance, standards-based” league in Canada.

Those words – “high-performance, standards-based” – set the stage for a higher level of Canadian soccer, eventually leading to the formation of the CPL.

“His legacy is his ability to see his trends in football around the world and be such a proud Canadian to say, ‘why can we not be a successful football nation?'” Misley recalled of Miller.

“His first go-around with Ontario Soccer in the 80s, he was probably too innovative for them at the time. He came back many years later and implemented a lot of that standards-based programming, which you see now up and down the game in Ontario – right to Leage1 Ontario.

“He challenged Canadian soccer to do better, top to bottom… and he did it in an incredible way.”

Canada Soccer shares its condolences with the family, friends & colleagues of Gary Miller.

Mr. Miller, a member of our Technical Committee, had a tremendous impact on the game & recently served as the Director of Soccer Operations at Ontario Soccer.

?⚽️ https://t.co/lDie5rO7u5 pic.twitter.com/x9nvlWO8qG

— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) May 14, 2020

Miller was well-liked and respected among provincial and national soccer organizers, a credit to the patience in which he guided them during tough times, according to Misley.

“He did it while challenging in a gentle, fathering, mentoring kind of way, which was perfect to say what we were doing ‘wasn’t good enough,'” Misley said.

Misley remembered Miller for his dry sense of humour and wit, but also his passion for the game, specifically with the CPL’s arrival.

“There was that need (for a Canadian domestic league). When there was talk, even rumblings, about a league he was so giddy. He understood that the player pathway was missing that league,” Misley said.

“Our work was to get League1 Ontario as a potential development league, and we were so excited when that came.”

Gary Miller was survived by his wife Cindy, daughters Stephanie and Briana, and son Ryan.