Joe Fabiani was born in Italy on April 29, 1950. His family immigrated to Canada in 1952 and settled in Port Colborne. At PCHS, Joe was an all-star athlete – talented in several sports, but his real love was football. While at PCHS, Joe was instrumental as quarterback leading the Bears to the Southern Ontario Secondary Association Zone 3 semi-finals for 3 seasons. During this time, Joe was scouted by several Universities in both Canada and the United States. Even though Joe was offered a full athletic scholarship to attend Ohio’s Bowling Green University, he ultimately chose the University of Western Ontario with his academic career in mind, to obtain a degree in Physical Education.
Joe’s football career flourished at Western. He quarterbacked the Western Mustangs to their first ever Vanier Cup win in 1971, in what was then called the College Bowl. His 97-yard pass and run play is still a Vanier Cup record. Joe was voted Captain of the Mustangs for two consecutive seasons (72&73) and he won the George McCullagh trophy - awarded as MVP for the 72-73 season. In 1972, Joe was contacted by 6 of the 9 teams in the CFL in preparation for the ’73 Draft. He was drafted by the BC Lions in the ’73 Draft.
Unfortunately, injuries in the Lions’ pre-season, ended his football career, but Joe turned to pursue his other passion as an educator. For 31 years, Joe was a dedicated teacher in the Niagara Region and his passion to coach students in all sports both at school and within the community was exemplary.
