The History of ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Athletics
By Tom Thompson & Earl Zukerman
Sports in Montreal started as a feature of community activities for
entertainment or competition. It was natural that sports became an
important part of the community activity in winter with variations
of hockey and in summer with rudimentary rugby, soccer, and the
early version of the game of baseball. ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ students participated
informally in many of these activities in the late 1840's and early
1850's.
In the 1870s, ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ students played a prominent role in the
founding of football and hockey.
Basketball was invented by ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ graduate James Naismith in
1891.
After graduating, other famous names with ties to ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ's
intercollegiate sports like Molson, Birks, Redpath, Notman,
Pitfield, Rothschild, Cleghorn, Chippindale and Tilden, among
others, went on to become household names in the business
community.
ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ's gift to the world isn't only from the playing fields. The
university list also includes one prime minister and six Nobel
prize winners among the many who have studied or taught at this
hallowed institute of learning.
SPORTS AND CULTURE
In the 1860's the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ students took advantage of the Montreal
Gym Club and began regular exercise programs called "physical
jerks". This became more of a ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ project when Frederick Barnjum
established gym classes three times a week in 1880. When it was no
longer possible for Barnjum to continue his classes, James
Naismith, a young ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ graduate and a dedicated athlete, took
over as director of physical training for ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ in 1889.
Concurrently, the students formalized their annual athletics
competitions by establishing the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ University Athletics
Association in 1884. This was the first student athletics
association in Canada.
Two years later, following the admission of women students at
ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ in 1884, women developed their own ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ tennis and sports
activities. When the Royal Victoria College was opened in 1900 they
started the RVC Athletics Club.
In this way ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ women "never walked very warily" in the pursuit
of athletics. In 1888 the Faculty of Arts passed a resolution "that
if a number of women students being willing to form a class in
gymnastics on the same terms of payment as the men, the Faculty
will recommend to the governors that the necessary arrangements be
made". Students paid the costs of their enthusiasm for
sports.
McGILL STUDENTS - LEADERS IN SPORTS
Athletics was a formal part of ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ life from 1860. ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ's
students took part in the first organized game of ice hockey in
1875, established and modified the first codified ice hockey rules
a number of times between 1873 and 1886, formed the first organized
hockey team in 1877, were instrumental in the organization of the
Amateur Hockey Association of Canada in 1886 and its major re-draft
of hockey rules and played Harvard in the first North American
style football game in 1874.
Also, James Naismith, a notable ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ athlete in gymnastics and
rugby-football, became the first director of physical training at
ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ. In 1891, he invented the game of basketball, which was
first played on the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ campus in 1893.
The annual ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ University Athletics Association competition
became the highlight of the school year.
FIRST STEPS TO THE MODERN ERA
Throughout the university's history, men and women of vision have
worked hard to ensure that athletics thrived at ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ.
One outstanding student athlete and leader, who who had won many
trophies for ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ, was Captain Percival Molson. He took
initiatives as a governor of ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ and played a key role in the
construction of a football facility, then known as ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ
Graduates' Stadium, which was initially opened in 1914 and built on
Macdonald Park, which had been donated in 1911 by Sir William C.
Macdonald. That parcel of land was bordered by an area bounded on
the south by Pine Avenue, on the west by University Street, and to
the north and east by Mount Royal.
(Over the years ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ did sell some of that property which more
recently caused a problem for the development of the new Sports
Centre in 1985-86).
The Stadium sat dormant through the war and Molson, who was
decorated as a hero in World War I, was killed in action in 1917.
In his will was a generous bequest of $75,000 for the Stadium,
which was completed and re-dedicated in his memory in 1919.
Macdonald paid for the completion of Molson Stadium and Percy
Erskine Nobbs, a professor of design in the school of architecture
at the time, designed the stadium and its fieldhouse.
In 1939, a new era of athletics was ushered in when the Sir Arthur
Currie Memorial Gymnasium-Armoury was constructed on the north side
of Pine Avenue, just east of University Street. Sir Arthur Currie,
for whom the gym was named, had been a highly-decorated general in
World War I, after which he became principal of ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ from 1920 to
1933, the year of his death.
The new gymnasium became the appropriate home to the offices of the
Department of Physical Education as well as Intercollegiate
Athletics, Intramurals and Student Services programs.
Also, ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ played an important role with the Candian armed forces
and the Currie Gym was linked with the physical training
headquarters for Canadian Officers Training program.
The Gymnasium was paid for in part by a posthumous donation from
Lord Strathcona, a long-standing benefactor of ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ, and in part
by the Graduate Society which had been raising money and planning
for years for this facility. In 1935, the Society held a
competition for the best gym design among architectural graduates
of ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ; the winner was commissioned to build the Gymnasium. Work
on this brick structure was advanced rapidly with the onset of
World War II in 1939.
Due to its function and the limited funds at the time, no
ornamentation was to be found throughout the structure and the
swimming pool was not started. The gym ceiling is supported by
trusses so that no pillars disturb the floor space.
In 1947, the gym was extended and the swimming pool and the
Memorial Hall were installed. The marble-floored Hall contains
paintings of ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ's history and a wall of the names of all the
graduates who gave their lives in the two World Wars. In 1994, an
indoor track and tennis courts were added to the east end of the
Gymnasium complex by the firm of Werlman and Guy.
SPORTS FOR ALL
The success of sports at ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ has resulted from the combined and
concurrent efforts of many who developed physical training for
women, teacher education, compulsory sports, intercollegiate
leagues, and other variations on the need for a balanced sports
program for students at the university.
The success of Coach 'Shag' Shaughnessy -- who in 1912 became the
first professional college coach in Canada -- and others involved
in the sports programs, led to a formal, organized Athletics
Department when Major D. Stuart Forbes, an architect, was appointed
the first Athletics Manager in 1923. The ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Athletics Board was
established in 1924 to provide guidance to an increasingly active
program and to coordinate the role of ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ athletes in the
Montreal community.
The director of women's physical education in 1939-40 paved the way
for a more active program of teaching, teacher education, and
direct sports programs on an intercollegiate basis for women. The
entire program with few exceptions was funded by the success of
gate receipts for major sports events, and pay as you go, sports
clubs.
PROFESSIONAL SPORTS AND TELEVISION - A NEW ERA AT McGILL
UNIVERSITY
In 1947, Vic Obeck took over the headcoaching reigns of the
football Redmen after a successful head football coaching stint at
Columbia University. He was appointed Director of Athletics at
ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ in 1949 and with his skill in promotion oversaw the
construction of the south stands at Molson Stadium. He also
enlarged the north-side stands, and established his own sports
television program in 1953, which he promoted from the Sir Arthur
Currie Gymnasium. His conflict of interest as General Manager of
the Montreal Alouettes football club necessitated an administrative
change at ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ in 1954.
Harry Griffiths was appointed director of athletics in 1955 and had
to deal with the increasing influence of television and
professional sports on all areas of athletics including ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ's,
own athletics facilities. Although these were shared at times by
the Alouettes which was a new source of funding, the university
embarked on a fledgling athletic fee to cover costs from declining
ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ gate receipts.
In 1956, J.W. McConnell, a tremendous benefactor of the University,
donated McConnell Winter Stadium just northeast of the Gymnasium.
This structure, built by McDougall, Fleming, and Smith, has an
arched roof so that the entire interior can be used for stands and
a hockey rink.
The School of Physical Education moved from the downtown ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ
campus to the suburban Macdonald College campus and back downtown.
After it was came under the domain of the Faculty of Education, a
number of other changes occurred among students within the
university. Sports became less of a focus for spectators and more
of an emphasis was placed on participation.
The traditional student leadership is sports organization and
decision-making was in sharp contrast to other areas of ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ such
as the Senate, Board of Governors, etc. Demand for change seemed
the order of the day.
The crunch came in 1970 when the Quebec government had begun its
pressure on ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ and deficit financing started at the university.
The University's Board of Governors cancelled funding to
intercollegiate sports to save $300,000 in the strapped university
budget.
The response of the university community was a vigorous defence of
intercollegiate sports by the Martlet Foundation, graduate
volunteers, donors, and many students. The result was increased
formalized athletic fees combined with donations and an agreement
with ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ to keep athletics going and to reintroduce
intercollegiate sports and to remove required sports
training.
COMBINING THE SUCCESS OF MEN AND WOMEN IN SPORTS
In December 1976, Robert Dubeau was appointed Director of
Athletics, working alongside Harry Griffiths who officially retired
in February, 1977.
The assistant Director of Athletics was Gladys Bean, the previous
Director of Women's Athletics. In 1977 the men's and women's
athletics boards were combined to become known as the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ
Athletics Board.
At the same time, membership in the Student's Athletics Council
covered men and women students. This was true of other areas
including the swimming, diving and track & field teams, among
others, together with a natural evolution of athletics back to "the
pay as you go" arrangement of the years prior to 1949. This was
balanced by a payment for use of athletics facilities for academic
purposes.
ATHLETICS SUCCESS THROUGH STUDENT LEADERSHIP AND
PARTICIPATION
In the Spring of 1982, with the initiative of the Students'
Athletics Council, a group of students guided a referendum question
which was unanimously approved by the students of ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ,
confirming a plan to contribute a specified fee each term for 10
years towards the redevelopment of the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Sports Complex.
Such an initiative had never before been seen across Canada and it
reflected the perseverance and determination of students to upgrade
the out-of-date athletics facilities at ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ and recognize the
trend back to personal fitness for all. Their initiative helped to
launch the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Advancement Campaign a year later, which took on
the task of matching and exceeding the gifts by students to have a
combined total of $10 million towards the proposed new athletics
centre.
Over the intervening years, after overcoming some political
problems in the neighbourhood, and the inadequate strategy with
which ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ administration pursued the project, a prolonged delay
was finally overcome in order that construction could begin in
1991.
GENERATIONS OF STUDENT SUPPORT CONTINUES
The new sports complex took on an even greater momentum and the
construction went well beyond the $10 million that students
originally projected in 1982 and it was decided to complete the
facilities in various phases as more funding became available. In
1992, construction covering Phase 2 began an odyssey towards a $32
million dollar project. In 1994, the Fieldhouse and its indoor
track was completed.
The ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Sports Centre now houses the Seagram's Sports Science
Centre, the Sports Medicine Clinic, the Cleghorn Hyperbaric Oxygen
Treatment Lab, the Weider Varsity Weight room, the Winsor Varsity
Clinic, the Tomlinson Fieldhouse, the Lorne Webster Squash Courts,
and a ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Fitness Centre.
This latter project was made possible through a third referendum in
1997 which saw ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ students once again take the initiative
towards completion of this significant project to enhance fitness
and personal development.
The ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ budget constraints, combined with the growing number of
varsity teams (currently at 46), increasingly pressured the
Department of Athletics to initiate budgetary measures, such as
designating the varity teams into Tier 1 versus Tier 2 sports, for
purposes of funding and complementary resources.
In 1998 with the appointment of a Manager of Marketing and
Promotions the activities of sports information and communication
was expanded to reinforce the good work of all the coaching,
instructional, and recreation staff to emphasize the wide diversity
of programs in the Department of Athletics. The new age of sports
at ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ is beginning to resemble the early days of sports whereby
basic costs of programs were covered by participants and gate
receipts.
The ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Athletics Department continues to be an oasis for many
in a challenging and hectic academic program. Students continue to
use the facilities for exams and Tomlinson Hall has become one of
the most attractive reception areas in the university. The indoor
track is one of the best in the country and the final phase of
improvements for the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Sports Centre is anticipated when
fundraising projects is completed.
In 1996, the department introduced a ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Sports Hall of Fame,
located in Tomlinson Hall, which has become an outstanding setting
to showcase the exceptional record of athletics achievements over
more than a century of time.
In 2005, the department introduced a ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ
EARLY INFLUENCES
- 1851 Montreal Y.M.C.A. offered programs to ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ men. Soldiers
Stationed in Montreal. Community Competition and Entertainment.
Play Fields Established; Official and Unofficial. International 'Y'
movement promoted gymnastics
- Montreal Gym Club, 1850, 1860-61 "physical jerks" for ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ
Students "pay as you go"
- 1863 Exercise classes for ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ men at the Y.
- 1873 a group of ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ undergraduates won the James Gordon
Bennett challenge cup for a two mile race in Springfield,
Massachusetts. The win over teams from Harvard, Amherst, Cornell,
Princeton and Yale aroused so much interest on campus, back in
Montreal, that officials decided to organize a "Field Day". The
event became an annual staple, pitting the faculties of Arts,
Sciences and Medicine against each other.
- 1874, ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ and Harvard play first North American style football
game on May 13, 1874
- 1875, ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ students took part in first organized hockey game
(March 3 at Victoria Skating Rink)
- 1877, ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ students formed first organized ice hockey team and
codify first hockey rules. ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ defeats Montreal Victorias 1-0 in
their first official game, played on January 31, 1877.
- 1880 Frederick S. Barnjum, gave classes 3 times a week at a
rented ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ gym located at 19 University Street. A. McLaren from
Oxford helped with the sports.
- 1881, ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ students posed for first hockey team photo
- 1883, ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ students won first hockey championship (Birks Winter
Carnival Cup). James Naismith (BA 1887) won Wicksteed gold medal,
awarded to the University's most outstanding athlete in the senior
class
- 1884 ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ University Athletics Association, first such
organization in Canada, was established to organize annual
athletics competition. Women students admitted to ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ
University.
- 1886, ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ students among founding members of first organized
hockey league (CAHA) and play instrumental role in re-drafting of
codified rules. Women's Tennis and Skating begins at ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ.
- 1889, Naismith appointed director of physical training at
ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ.
- 1890, R. Tait McKenzie (BA 1889, MD 1892, LLD 1921) appointed
first Medical Director of Physical Training
- 1891, James Naismith invents rules to basketball in Springfield,
Mass.
- 1894, interfaculty basketball played at ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ
- 1886, Women's Tennis and Skating begins
- 1896, Women's hockey club formed
- 1898, Soccer, or "Association football", as it was known, made
its first recorded appearance at ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ, when the team played
exhibition games and participated in local summer leagues such as
the Montreal City and District League. In the early years, the
roster included mostly medical students because the medicine was
the only faculty in session during the summer months
- 1899, ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ track & field team is founded
- 1900 ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ adopts new school colours of red and white, replacing
previous chocolate and gules-coloured uniforms. R.V.C. Athletic
Club, first exercise programs for women, established under guidance
of Miss Holmstrum and Miss Lichtenstein
- 1902, the Canadian Intercollegiate Hockey Union, the first
intercollegiate hockey league, was formed with ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ, Toronto and
Queen's as the founding members.
- 1904, ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ met and defeated Queen's in the first-ever Canadian
intercollegiate basketball game in Kingston, Ont., on February 6,
1904.
- 1905, Intercollegiate soccer play began. ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ teamed up for a
single round-robin tournament with Queen's and the University of
Toronto.
- 1906, Ethel Mary Cartwright at R.V.C., Director of Sports and
Physical training for Women, started credit courses for Teachers.
Cartwright was appointed as the first coordinator in Canada for
sports and physical training for Women (First in Canada).
- 1909 compulsory Physical Training courses for women (another
Canadian first); afternoon classes for teachers. Intercollegiate
gate receipts helped to cover costs of athletics.
- 1911 parcel of land known as Macdonald Park (bordered by Pine
Avenue, University Street, and Mount Royal Ave.) was donated by Sir
William Macdonald, one of the University's most charitable friends.
At one time, the Law family house and the Molson estate, named
Piedmont, were located here.
- 1912 Dr. A. S. Lamb, appointed Director of Physical Education,
Health, Intercollegiates and Intramural Sports, a post he held for
37 years.
- Frank "Shag" Shaughnessy becomes first "professional" college
coach in Canada and leads team to win first of back-to-back Yates
Cup championships.
- 1913 C.O.T.C. established at ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ pre War. A group of ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ
graduates, led by Percival Molson, a former football, hockey and
track star at ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ around the turn of the century, formed a
committee to build a football stadium on land donated by Sir
William Macdonald. Molson, a governor, was named chairman of the
Stadium committee. The cost of levelling the ground for the field
and surrounding track was offset by selling rock from the
excavation. The university loaned the committee, chaired by Molson,
$75,000 to build the 8,000 seat concrete grandstand which rises in
38 tiers on the north side of the field. It was estimated that the
income from gate receipts would be sufficient to pay off this loan
over a period of years. During the course of construction a large
number of graduates made individual pledges to cover the iterest on
the loan. Percy Erskine Nobbs, a Professor of Design in the School
of Architecture at the time, designed the stadium and its
fieldhouse. The stadium today is unchanged, except that its stands
are much higher than was originally intended. They partially block
the view from Douglas Hall, a residence to the north of the
stadium.
- 1914, Montreal General Hospital and ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ School of Physical
Education offered a combined "Remedial" Program which gained
importance in the war. The Canadian Officers Training Corps
(C.O.T.C.) was established at ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ.
THE WAR YEARS
- 1917 Percival Molson received the Military Cross for gallantry
and distinguished conduct and was killed in action on July 5, 1917
in Avion, France. He left a $75,000 bequest for the Stadium, which
discharged theinitial financial obligation from the graduates
- 1919 Graduates Stadium re-dedicated at Percival Molson Memorial
Stadium. ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Football Team wins Yates Cup championship. ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ
School of Physical Education established under Faculty of
Medicine
- 1921 ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ hosts Syracuse in football game where first forward
pass is attempted in Canada by quarterback Boo Anderson. Physical
Education graduates officially become part of the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ
Convocation.
- 1923 Athletics Board established and was chaired by Principal Sir
Arthur Currie. Major D. Stuart Forbes appointed athletics manager
and F. Van Wagner appointed head basketball coach
- 1926 Hay Finlay, first male graduate of the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ School of
Physical Education, joined Athletics Department staff.
- 1927 Miss J. S. Herriott replaced E. Mary Cartwright
- 1929 nickname "Red men" (i.e. two separate words) was first used
at ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ in reference to their red uniforms. Over the next few
years, they formally adopted the nickname "Redmen".
- 1931 After 10 years of lobbying from Frank Shaughnessy, the
forward pass is formally adopted by the Canadian Rugby Football
Union.
- 1939 Iveagh Munro, appointed Director, Women's Physical
Education. Sir Arthur Currie Memorial Gymnasium Armourary opened.
The Gymnasium was paid for in part by a posthumous donation from
Lord Strathcona, a long-standing benefactor of ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ, and in part
by the Graduate Society which had been raising money and planning
for years for this facility. Lord and Lady Strathcona made gifts of
$118,992 for the armoury-drill hall and the Graduates' Society
having raised $195, 628 in a campaign to build the gymnasium. Work
on this brick structure was advanced rapidly with the onset of
World War II in 1939. Due to its function and the limited funds at
the time, no ornamentation was to be found throughout the structure
and the swimming pool was not started. The gym ceiling is supported
by trusses so that no pillars disturb the floor space.
- 1946 Dawson College for post war veterans at St-Johns. E. M.
Orlick, Director of Sports at Dawson
- 1947 The Currie Gym was extended and the swimming pool and the
Memorial Hall were initiated. The marble-floored Hall contains
paintings of ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ's history and a wall of the names of all the
graduates who gave their lives in the two World Wars.
- Vic Obeck, head football coach from New York University, was
appointed new ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ football coach. J. B. Kirkpatrick appointed
Director, School of Physical Education. Women's Athletics Board
established.
- 1948 Vic Obeck initiated and oversaw construction of south-side
stands for molson Stadium.
- 1949 Vic Obeck appointed Director of Athletics; B. Kirkpatrick
named Director of the School of P.E. Women's Athletics Board;
established separate from the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Athletics Board.
- 1950 War Memorial swimming pool (six lanes, 25 yards) was
officially opened on December 9, 1950 in memory of the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ men
and women who gave their lives during World Wars I and II. The cost
was $727, 249 and again it was borne by subscriptions from members
of the Graduates' Society.
- 1953 TV in Montreal, Vic Obeck sports program televised from
ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ University
- 1955 Harry E. Griffiths appointed Director of Athletics, Physical
Education and Recreation and Iveagh Munro appointed Director,
School of Physical Education for teachers. A sports fee established
for all students. Gate receipts dropping!
- 1956, Official opening of McConnell Winter Stadium on Nov. 30,
1956 by Chancellor B.C. Gardner. This structure, built by
McDougall, Fleming, and Smith, has an arched roof so that the
entire interior can be used for stands and a hockey rink. This
building, along with the gym and stadium, continues to satisfy the
students' need for recreation and activity. The arena was built at
a cost of more than $500,000, financed entirely by senior governor
J.W. McConnell. Douglas W. Ambridge, president of the Graduates'
Society, dropped the puck at the ceremonial faceoff before a
sold-out crowd of 1,159 spectators that saw Toronto defeat ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ
4-2.
- 1958 Professor Winona Wood appointed Director, Department of
Physical Education, Institute of Education at
Macdonald/ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ.
- 1959, the Weston Pool opened.
- 1965 Dr. R. E. Wilkinson, Chairman, Department of Physical
Education, Faculty of Education at ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ University (new building
addition to Gym)
- 1970 ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Athletics fee a "book entry" for all students. But
budget pressure forced cancellation of Intercollegiate
Athletics.
- 1970-71 The Committee for the Coordination of Student Services
was established to guide student fee assessment for all student
services.
- 1971-72 Redmen swim team becomes first ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ sports team to win
CIAU championship
- 1976 Bob Dubeau was appointed director of athletics. Dr. Gladys
Bean, Assistant Director of Athletics. Professor Doug Riley,
Chairman, Department of Physical Education at ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ.
- 1977 The ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Athletics Board was reorganized to include
representation from men, women, the Martlet Foundation, the
Graduates' Society and the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Alumni Association. Also, the
Student Athletics Council was reconfigured to combine the men's and
women's councils.
- 1982 Student Athletics Committee, led by Robert Smith, Dana Reid,
Lori Henritzy and Larry Rush, coordinated a referendum campaign to
encourage a campus-wide student fee assessment to refurbish the
antiquated Currie Gym athletics complex. After numerous delays, the
project was finally approved in 1983-84, and over the next decade,
students contributed some $4,115,000 through special fees. This was
believed to be the first major student support projects in
Canada.
- 1982-83 Redmen soccer team wins back-to-back CIAU
championships.
- 1983 - ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Advancement Program Capital Campaign launched with
the Athletics Complex goal of $10 million dollars (4 from students
6 million from private support). The MAP Capital Campaign generated
$5,126,000 from the Molson Foundation and Molson Family, in
addition to $1,526,000 from Seagram's Limited.
- 1987 football Redmen become first Quebec team to win CIAU
championship
- 1991 War Memorial swimming pool was gutted and replaced by a new
eight-lane, 25-metre Memorial pool with an Omega electronic timing
board. The construction of a new pool was the first of a long
overdue four-phase project to upgrade the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ sports
facilities.
- 1992, the Students Athletics Council endorsed and earned
campus-wide support to continue the athletics referendum fee
assessment until 1997 for an additional $2 million.
- 1992-97 the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Twenty-First Century Fund campaign raised
funds for the Winsor Varsity Clinic, the Webster Squash Courts,
Donald Love Competition Hall, Tomlinson Hall, Weider Fitness
Centre, the Molson Sports Room, the C.O.T.C. lounge renovations,
and additional building funds. During the same period, the Martlet
Foundation raised one million dollars to establish a Martlet
Members Endowment Fund to promote athletics projects and Martlet
Scholarships.
- 1992 Students Athletics Council endorsed and earned campus- wide
support to continue the Athletics Referendum fee assessment untill
1997 for an additional $2 million for the sports centre.
- 1993 ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Campaign launched with new students referendum
commitment. The redeveloped swimming pool reopened in the Spring as
Phase I of construction.
- 1994 official dedication of indoor track and tennis courts in the
east end of the Gymnasium complex by the firm of Werlman and Guy.
The Phase II of the Sports Centre almost completed and the new
Fieldhouse opened in the Fall with a one-mile race won by ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ
track star Linda Thyer. The event and the efforts of the students
were recognized with a souvenir publication.
- (Spring) The Seagram Sports Science Centre opened.
- 1995 The new ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ fieldhouse was dedicated in January, 1995, as
an extension to the Sir Arthur Currie Gym. The fieldhouse, which
measures 100m x 55m, contains a 200-metre, 5-lane banked running
track. In addition, there were convertable courts for volleyball,
basketball, badminton, tennis, racquetball, squash and indoor
soccer, in addition to a dance studio and a weight room. The
exterior of the Sports Centre was designed to blend into the
mountain and to sympathize with the local architecture. Also, the
Sports Medicine Clinic and Tomlinson Hall opened. Donald Love
Competition Hall was constructed for basketball, volleyball and
other events with spectator capacity raging up to 1,500
seats.
- 1997 Redmen soccer team wins CIAU championship. The Cleghorn
Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment Lab opened.
- 1998 completion of the Webster squash and racquetball courts,
plus fitness and dance studios, gymnastics and multipurpose rooms,
in addition to team meeting rooms, equipment rooms, laundry rooms,
storage rooms and locker rooms.