Eric Perroni

Athlete – Lacrosse

Photo Credit: Jason Saucier

Born and raised in Whitby, Eric Perroni began playing lacrosse at the age of seven, and over his career, he compiled an extensive resume of success at the minor, junior, and senior levels. This path to success began in 1975, playing for the Garrard Road Minor Lacrosse Association, when Eric’s team won the Canadian National Peewee B Championship in Vancouver, B.C.

The achievements continued when Eric advanced to the Junior A level, where his skills as both a scorer and a physical defender played fundamental roles in leading the Whitby CBC Builders (1980) and the Whitby Warriors (1984, 1985) to three Minto Cup Canadian championships. During his 6-year career with the Builders and the Warriors, including 102 regular season games and 56 playoff games, Eric scored a total of 139 goals and added 179 assists for 318 career points. Eric also made his presence felt at the defensive end of the floor, as his physical style of play resulted in 517 career penalty minutes; however, when distributed over his total of 158 Junior A games, Eric averaged less than two minor penalties per game.

In 1986, Eric joined the Brooklin Redmen (now known as the Brooklin Lacrosse Club) in Major Series Lacrosse (MSL), and over the ensuing 15 years, he helped lead Brooklin to seven MSL titles, including six consecutive championships from 1986 to 1991. Additionally, he was a member of four Mann Cup national championship teams with Brooklin (1987, 1988, 1990, 2000), giving him a combined total of seven Canadian titles in Junior A and Senior A lacrosse.

On an individual basis at the Senior A level, Eric played in a total of 369 games (234 regular season, 135 playoff) scoring 187 goals and 308 assists for 495 points, resulting in an average of 1.34 points per game. In 1991, Eric finished fourth in the MSL scoring race, with 51 points in 16 games. He was also awarded the Merv McKenzie Memorial Trophy in 1994 as the MSL’s Most Valuable Defensive Player.

Eric retired from Senior A lacrosse after winning the 2000 Mann Cup. He continued to play Masters Lacrosse for several years before turning his attention to coaching his son Adam’s teams, leading them to multiple minor lacrosse titles in both field lacrosse and box lacrosse.

Eric was previously inducted into the Whitby Sports Hall of Fame in the Team category with the 1980 Whitby CBC Builders (2006) and the 1984 Whitby Warriors (2024). He is an inductee in the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in the player category (2018) as well as in the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in the team category (2006 and 2019) and the player category (2021).In 2021, Eric retired from A & T Motors, a company started by father in 1964. Eric currently resides in Orono with his wife, Carrie. He has remained intricately connected to his chosen sport as a volunteer coach across multiple levels of minor lacrosse, and he currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Brooklin Lacrosse Club.