George Lewis Capwell Cronin (July 1, 1902 – January 7, 1970), the American manager of the

Empresa Eléctrica del Ecuador Empresa Eléctrica del Ecuador (literally ''Electric Company of Ecuador'') or Emelec was the name of an Ecuadorian electric company based in the city of Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Indepe ...

("Electric Company of Ecuador") in

Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

, founded Club Sport Emelec, a

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

, in 1929. Emelec, named for the first syllable of each word in the company's name, is one of Ecuador's leading football clubs.

Biography

Capwell was born on July 1, 1902, in Olean, New York. He was known for his love of athletics, particularly

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

. When he was young, he lived for a time in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

, where his father was an engineer involved in the construction of the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...

. He studied electrical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. After graduating, he took a job as an assistant engineer at a power plant in Cienfuegos,

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. He later spent time in Panama. Standing over tall and weighing over , Capwell was noted for his organizational and leadership skills.

Emelec

Capwell arrived in Guayaquil to work at Eléctrica on April 14, 1926. Soon after arriving, he founded a sports club, named for the first syllable of each word in the company's name: Emelec. He boxed and played basketball at the guard position; he organized basketball competitions at the company in 1927. He played the catcher's position in baseball games. Potential members of the boxing club had to perform well in a fight against one of the club's experienced boxers in order to gain membership. Capwell was not particularly interested in

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

, but a request from the employees lead him to found a team, particularly since the workers were not particularly enthusiastic about Emelec's other sports. The football team, composed solely of Eléctrica workers, was founded on April 28, 1929. On September 17, 1929, the team—with Capwell on the field—defeated Vanguard 14-12 at a tournament in Guayaquil. It won its first title, a local league made up of business-backed teams in Guayaquil, in 1933. Emelec became Ecuador's first national football champions in 1957, and they have won 14 national titles. Emelec currently plays in the

Estadio George Capwell Estadio Banco del Pacífico Capwell is a multi-purpose stadium in Guayaquil, Ecuador. It is currently used mostly for football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Un ...

, built in 1945 in Guayaquil. Capwell played in the first game staged in the stadium, a baseball match against Oriente.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capwell, George 1902 births 1970 deaths American expatriates in Ecuador American sports businesspeople People from Olean, New York Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni 20th-century American businesspeople