Robert George Hindmarch (May 27, 1930 – February 20, 2021) was a Canadian educator, sports administrator and ice hockey coach. He was a multi-sport athlete at the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...
(UBC) as a student, and returned as a professor and its director of physical education. He and
Father David Bauer established a permanent
Canada men's national ice hockey team based at UBC in preparation for
ice hockey at the 1964 Winter Olympics
The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, was the tenth Olympic Championship, also serving as the 31st World Championships and the 42nd European Championships. The games were held at the Olympiahalle I ...
. Hindmarch later coached the
UBC Thunderbirds
The UBC Thunderbirds are the athletic teams that represent the University of British Columbia in the University Endowment Lands just outside the city limits of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In Canadian intercollegiate competition, the Thu ...
men's ice hockey team for 214 wins in 12 seasons; they became one of the first Western Bloc sports teams to play a tour of games in China. He developed additional international sporting relationships for the Thunderbirds in South Korea and Japan, and served as vice-president of the
Canadian Olympic Association
The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC; french: Comité olympique canadien) is a private, non-profit organization that represents Canada at the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It is also a member of the Pan American Sports Organization ( ...
for 16 years. Hindmarch was made a member of the
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the cen ...
and the
Order of British Columbia
The Order of British Columbia (french: Ordre de la Colombie-Britannique) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Instituted in 1989 by Lieutenant Governor David Lam, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier ...
; and is inducted into the
Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame The Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame is an honour roll of the top Canadian Olympic athletes, teams, coaches, and builders (officials, administrators, and volunteers). It was established in 1949. Selections are made by a committee appointed by the Cana ...
and the
BC Sports Hall of Fame
The BC Sports Hall of Fame is a museum located in BC Place Stadium, at Gate A, the main entrance to the stadium, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It collects, preserves, studies and interprets materials that relate to British Columbia's spo ...
.
Early life and education
Robert George Hindmarch was born on May 27, 1930 in
Nanaimo, the son of a coal miner. Hindmarch participated in numerous sports as a youth including baseball, hockey, lacrosse, soccer, swimming and track and field.
Hindmarch began studying at the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...
(UBC) in 1948. He played on several teams for the
UBC Thunderbirds
The UBC Thunderbirds are the athletic teams that represent the University of British Columbia in the University Endowment Lands just outside the city limits of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In Canadian intercollegiate competition, the Thu ...
; which included two years of baseball, two years of basketball team and three years of
UBC Thunderbirds football
The UBC Thunderbirds football team represents the University of British Columbia athletics teams in U Sports and is based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Thunderbirds program has won the CWUAA Hardy Trophy conference championship 16 times, ...
. He received the Dr. Gordon Burke Award in 1952, for leadership and skills on the football team.
During his senior season in 1953, he was co-captain of both the football and baseball teams.
He was awarded the Bobby Gaul Memorial Trophy as the university's graduating male athlete-of-the-year in 1953. He graduated from UBC with a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...
degree in
physical education
Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...
.
He coached football at the Duke of Connaught High School in
New Westminster
New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capi ...
during 1954, then was an assistant coach to
Frank Gnup on the UBC Thunderbirds football team in 1955.
Hindmarch completed a
Master of Science
A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...
degree in 1959 and a
Doctor of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
degree in education in 1962, both from the
University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
.
His doctoral thesis was ''Significance of physique, maturational, body size, strength, motor ability and reaction time characteristics of eight year old boys''.
UBC professional career
Hindmarch became as assistant professor of physical education at UBC in 1961, then became a full-time professor in 1974.
He supported
Father David Bauer when he established a permanent
Canada men's national ice hockey team based at the
Point Grey Campus of UBC. Hindmarch served as general manager and assistant coach of the team which placed fourth in
ice hockey at the 1964 Winter Olympics
The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, was the tenth Olympic Championship, also serving as the 31st World Championships and the 42nd European Championships. The games were held at the Olympiahalle I ...
.
He managed the team's finances, and made the academic transfer arrangements for players to attend UBC. The team initially struggled for funding and he occasionally donated money from his own pocket to feed the starving student athletes.
Hindmarch began coaching the UBC Thunderbirds men's ice hockey team during the 1964–65 season, and led the team to the 1971
Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship. He accumulated a winning record in 11 of 12 seasons, and set UBC record with 214 wins by a coach in ice hockey.
In December 1973, they became one of the first
Western Bloc
The Western Bloc, also known as the Free Bloc, the Capitalist Bloc, the American Bloc, and the NATO Bloc, was a coalition of countries that were officially allied with the United States during the Cold War of 1947–1991. It was spearheaded by ...
sports teams to tour China, and played a series of games focused on friendship and sharing hockey skills with local players.
The trip was supported by the Government of Canada as part of a desire to normalize relations with China, and was not well-publicized at the time. Hindmarch and the Thunderbirds conducted practices attended by the Chinese, and won all seven games played by a combined score of 56 to 5.
Hindmarch continued to develop international relationships for the Thunderbirds during his tenure. He arranged a tour of Japan for the women's hockey team in 1982, began an exchange program for the men's volleyball team with
Sungkyunkwan University
Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU or simply ''Seongdae'', Hangul: 성균관대학교; Hanja: 成均館大學校) is a private comprehensive research university in South Korea. The institution traces its origins to the historic Sungkyunkwan, found ...
in South Korea in 1985, and invited
Soviet Union national ice hockey team
The Soviet national ice hockey team was the national men's ice hockey team of the Soviet Union. From 1954, the team won at least one medal each year at either the Ice Hockey World Championships ...
coach
Anatoly Tarasov
Anatoly Vladimirovich Tarasov (russian: Анато́лий Влади́мирович Тара́сов; 10 December 1918 – 23 June 1995) was a Russian ice hockey player and coach. Tarasov is considered "the father of Russian ice hockey" and e ...
as a guest speaker at UBC in 1987.
Hindmarch also worked with
Shoichi Tomita, executive director of the
Japan Ice Hockey Federation
The Japan Ice Hockey Federation ( ja, 日本アイスホッケー連盟) is the governing body of ice hockey in Japan. Japan was the first Asian nation to join the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
National teams
* Men
* Men U20
* Men U ...
, to establish exchanges between UBC and Japan that advanced the philosophy of physical and psychological education in ice hockey.
Hindmarch served as the UBC athletic director from 1980 to 1992, assisted in coaching the UBC basketball and baseball teams, and oversaw all Thunderbird teams and campus intramural programs.
During his tenure as athletic director, many national championships were won by the men's football, men's soccer, women's field hockey and women's swimming teams; and UBC was ranked first in Canada for intercollegiate sports success by ''
Maclean's
''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian persp ...
'' in 1991.
He also sought to build a lasting relationship between UBC and its athletic alumni, and helped to establish the UBC Sports Hall of Fame in 1993.
After leaving the department full time, Hindmarch returned to visit with the school's sports coaches. UBC Basketball coach
Kevin Hanson described Hindmarch by saying, "He was one of those special people who would make you feel good about what you were doing".
Other sporting interests
Hindmarch served as a director of the
Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and helped make
hockey helmet
A hockey helmet is worn by players of ice hockey, inline hockey, and bandy to help protect the head from potential injury when hit by the puck, sticks, skates, boards, other players, or the ice. The shell of a hockey helmet is generally ma ...
s mandatory for
minor ice hockey
Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from c ...
players.
He served as vice-president of the
Canadian Olympic Association
The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC; french: Comité olympique canadien) is a private, non-profit organization that represents Canada at the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It is also a member of the Pan American Sports Organization ( ...
for 16 years, and was
head of mission for the Canadian delegation to the
1984 Winter Olympics
The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: ''XIV. Zimske olimpijske igre''; Cyrillic: XIV Зимске олимпијске игре; mk, XIV Зимски олимписки игр ...
. He served as vice-president of Vancouver's bid to host the
1976 Winter Olympics
The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games (german: XII. Olympische Winterspiele, french: XIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1976 ( bar, Innschbruck 1976, label= Austro-Bavarian), was a ...
,
sat on the
Calgary bid committee for the 1988 Winter Olympics, and was an ambassador for Vancouver's
2010 Winter Olympics bid committee.
Hindmarch was an advisor to
Rick Hansen
Richard Marvin Hansen (born August 26, 1957) is a Canadian track and field athlete (Paralympic Games), activist, and philanthropist for people with disabilities. Following a pickup truck crash at the age of 15, Hansen sustained a spinal cord ...
in planning the Man in Motion Tour in 1985, and served as chairman of the
Expo 86
The 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo 86, was a World's Fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from May 2 until October 13, 1986. The fair, the theme of which was "Transportation and Communicatio ...
sports committee. Hindmarch also served as president of the British Columbia Sports Federation, as a trustee for the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame, and was involved with the expansion bid for the
Vancouver Grizzlies
The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver. They were part of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1995, along w ...
to join the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
in 1995.
Personal life
Hindmarch was married to Jean Hindmarch for 65 years until her death, and was the father of hockey players
Dave Hindmarch
David Hindmarch (born October 15, 1958) is a Canadian former National Hockey League player for the Calgary Flames. Hindmarch represented Canada at the 1980 Winter Olympics held in Lake Placid, where he scored three goals and four assists in six g ...
and Bruce Hindmarch.
His son Dave represented Canada in
ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics
The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, United States, was the 14th Olympic Championship. Twelve teams competed in the tournament, which was held from February 12 to 24, 1980. The United States won its secon ...
and played in the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
for the
Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...
. Hindmarch died at age 90 on February 20, 2021.
Honours and awards
Hindmarch received the
Gordon Juckes Award from the CAHA in 1983, for contributions to the development of amateur hockey in Canada. He was inducted into the inaugural class of the UBC Sports Hall of Fame in 1993, and was made the namesake of a scholarship for student athlete leadership at UBC.
Hindmarch was inducted into the builder category of the
BC Sports Hall of Fame
The BC Sports Hall of Fame is a museum located in BC Place Stadium, at Gate A, the main entrance to the stadium, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It collects, preserves, studies and interprets materials that relate to British Columbia's spo ...
in 2006.
He was given honorary lifetime membership in the Canadian Olympic Association and inducted into the
Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame The Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame is an honour roll of the top Canadian Olympic athletes, teams, coaches, and builders (officials, administrators, and volunteers). It was established in 1949. Selections are made by a committee appointed by the Cana ...
in 2009.
Hindmarch was named to the
Order of British Columbia
The Order of British Columbia (french: Ordre de la Colombie-Britannique) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Instituted in 1989 by Lieutenant Governor David Lam, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier ...
in 2010.
He was inducted into the builder category of the
BC Hockey
The British Columbia Amateur Hockey Association, more commonly known as BC Hockey, is a non-profit organization and member branch of Hockey Canada in charge of governing amateur hockey at all levels in British Columbia and Yukon Territory. It comp ...
Hall of Fame in 2012.
Hindmarch was inducted into the
Canada West
The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...
Hall of Fame as an ice hockey coach in 2019.
He was named a Member of the
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the cen ...
in 2019, "for his contributions to sports as an athlete, coach and educator in his province and beyond".
After being awarded the Order of Canada, Hindmarch met with UBC alumni and wanted them to wear their school sweaters. Kevin Hanson felt that Hindmarch "was more concerned about people representing UBC that night and the traditions then anything else", and that "he want
dus to make sure that we feel like we're a part of it".
Notes
References
Bibliography
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Further reading
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hindmarch, Bob
1930 births
2021 deaths
20th-century Canadian educators
Academics of physical education and sport
Baseball people from British Columbia
Basketball people from British Columbia
Canada men's national ice hockey team coaches
Canadian Amateur Hockey Association personnel
Canadian baseball coaches
Canadian basketball coaches
Canadian ice hockey coaches
Canadian sports builders
Canadian sports executives and administrators
Coaches of Canadian football
Expo 86
Ice hockey people from British Columbia
Members of the Order of British Columbia
Members of the Order of Canada
Olympic officials
Players of Canadian football from British Columbia
Sportspeople from Nanaimo
UBC Thunderbirds baseball players
UBC Thunderbirds basketball players
UBC Thunderbirds football players
University of British Columbia faculty
University of Oregon alumni