Bob Pugh inducted as a builder to McGill Sports Hall
MONTREAL - Bob Pugh has been selected in the builder category and is among a half-dozen new 2010 inductees to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame.
Born Robert W. Pugh in Verdun, Que., on Oct. 29, 1928, he went on to Springfield College, graduating with a science degree in 1950.
From 1955 to 1969, he served as the tireless director of athletics at McGill's Macdonald campus in Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Que. During his tenure, he also coached the Macdonald football and hockey teams for nine and 14 seasons, respectively.
A former director of Hockey Canada, he served as co-chair on the Canadian Olympic Hockey Committee and sat for six years as president of the Ottawa - St. Lawrence Athletics Association.
In 1971, Pugh became the first executive director of the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (now know as the CIS), an organization he helped create and served there for 20 years until his retirement in 1991. He was a member of the organizing committee that established the Vanier Cup, now the most prestigious event in Canadian intercollegiate football.
In 1972, he was appointed chef-de-mission at the FISU world university games in Moscow. A decade later, he was a member of the board of directors for the 1983 FISU Games in Edmonton.
"I was coached in football and hockey, in the early sixties, by Bob Pugh," said Bryan Murray, a McGill grad who is the general manager of the NHL's Ottawa Senators. "I also had the opportunity to work with him, as an assistant athletics director and hockey coach, on the Macdonald campus. I remember the discipline, behavior, work ethic and respect that all of his student-athletes were expected to show and in return were shown.
"Bob was a classy, respectful man who expected each of us to conduct ourselves as good representatives of the school and team. I remember the effort he put into his responsibility as the coach and athletics director. I know that exposure to Bob had a huge influence on my career. The treatment and respect I received allowed me to better understand how athletes should be treated. I have tried to follow that code with my teams. I wish him good luck for this much deserved recognition."
Pugh also served for 20 years on the Lanark County Board of Education and 12 years on the Almonte Hospital Board, serving terms as chair of both boards. He received the J.P. Loosemoore Award in 1992, presented to an administrator for contribution to sport in addition to reflecting the best of university sport in terms of ethics, integrity and honesty. The R.W. Pugh Award is presented annually in his honour to the most sportsmanlike player in CIS men's hockey. In 2008, an annual Bob Pugh Golf Classic was founded by the Macdonald campus to create proceeds for a scholarship fund named in his honour.
The induction luncheon, scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 30, 2010, officially kicks off the McGill Homecoming Week celebrations. Tickets for the event are $65 and can be reserved by contacting Kathryn Weaver at kathryn.weaver [at] mcgill.ca or 514-398-7002.
Next profile: the 1919 McGill football team.
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SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012