Jimmy Dunn (sports executive)
Canadian sports executive (1898–1979) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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James Archibald Dunn (March 24, 1898 – January 7, 1979) was a Canadian sports executive involved in ice hockey, baseball, fastpitch softball, athletics, football and curling. He was president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) from 1955 to 1957, after he served five years as a vice-president. He assumed control of the CAHA when it had lost the confidence of the people to produce a Canada men's national team which would win the Ice Hockey World Championships, and recommended forming a national all-star team based on the nucleus of the reigning Allan Cup champion. He wanted to create more goodwill towards Canada in international hockey, accompanied the Kenora Thistles on an exhibition tour of Japan, then arranged for the Japan men's national team to tour Canada. In junior ice hockey, he was opposed to the mass transfers of players to the stronger teams sponsored by the National Hockey League, and supported weaker provincial champions to have additional players during the Memorial Cup playoffs. After his presidency, he represented the CAHA as a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee for 15 years.
Jimmy Dunn | |
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Born | James Archibald Dunn (1898-03-24)March 24, 1898 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
Died | January 7, 1979(1979-01-07) (aged 80) Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
Occupation | Canadian National Railway clerk |
Known for | |
Spouse | Mary Dunn |
Awards | |
Military career | |
Allegiance | Canada |
Service/ | Canadian Expeditionary Force |
Years of service | 1916–1918 |
Rank | Lieutenant |
Battles/wars | World War I |
Dunn began his hockey career as secretary of the Winnipeg Junior and Juvenile Hockey League in 1926, followed by 17 years as secretary, convenor and timekeeper at the Olympic Rink after joining the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL). He was a member of the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association (MAHA) executive from 1929 to 1954, served three years as a vice-president, and was president from 1945 to 1950. He was committed to discussing issues openly with the press invited and dealt with ongoing disagreements between the MJHL divisions. He encouraged rural Manitoba communities to develop hockey programs and rearranged playoffs to give them a better chance against urban teams. His presidency coincided with the MAHA's biggest growth, best financial situation, and annually increased grants to develop minor ice hockey. He later served as commissioner of the MJHL from 1964 to 1966, agreed to televise games, and experimented with Sunday evening games to increase attendance. He co-founded an annual golf tournament in 1937 to benefit retired hockey players, which led to the establishment of the Manitoba Hockey Players' Foundation in 1968, where he served eight years as its secretary-treasurer.
In 1928, Dunn became president of the Uneeda Club in Winnipeg which began his career as a baseball and softball executive. He managed the club's baseball team during the early 1930s, was elected to the Manitoba Diamond Ball Association executive in 1934, and was president of the Greater Winnipeg Senior Baseball League from 1942 to 1946. He helped establish the Western Canada Baseball Association to govern senior and junior baseball, and was its first vice-president in 1945. He oversaw girls' fastpitch softball games at Osborne Stadium, and served as president of the Greater Winnipeg Senior Girls' Softball League from 1941 to 1946. He led efforts to establish a provincial governing body for men's and women's fastpitch softball, became the founding president of the Manitoba Fastball Association in 1946, and sought to increase participation in the game in rural Manitoba. Dunn was elected the first president the Manitoba Senior Baseball League in 1948, and oversaw its reorganization into the Mandak League with expansion into North Dakota in 1950. He served as league president for two seasons and arranged benefit games to raise money for local recovery efforts from the 1950 Red River flood.
Dunn was a lieutenant with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in France during World War I, and a Canadian Army Reserve commanding officer during World War II. As an executive with the Manitoba branch of the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada, he was a timekeeper at wrestling and boxing events and an on-field official at track and field events. He was also a timekeeper for high school football games and the Manitoba Rugby Football Union, and was the original timekeeper of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers without missing a home game for 42 years. He was an executive for several curling leagues, president of the Winnipeg Thistle Curling Club, and served on the Manitoba Curling Association executive. He was married to fellow sports executive Mary Dunn, and was known locally as "Mr. Hockey".[1][2] The Winnipeg Tribune wrote that "no single individual in Manitoba has made a more significant contribution to sport",[3] and that his leadership assured the success of any sport organization.[4] He received life memberships from multiple sporting organizations, was inducted into the builder category of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1968, and was posthumously inducted into the builder category of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985.