Thomas J. Kanaly was an American sports executive with the

Boston Athletic Association The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) is a non-profit, running-focused, organized sports association for the Greater Boston area. The B.A.A. hosts such events as the Boston Marathon, the B.A.A. 5K, the B.A.A. 10K, the B.A.A. Half Marathon, the ...

and the

Boston Garden-Arena Corporation The Boston Garden-Arena Corporation was an American corporation that oversaw the operations of the Boston Garden from 1934 to 1973. It was formed when the Boston Arena Corporation gained control of the Boston Garden from the Madison Square Garden ...

Personal life

Kanaly was born in

Glastonbury, Connecticut Glastonbury ( ) is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, formally founded in 1693 and first settled in 1636. It was named after Glastonbury in Somerset, England. Glastonbury is on the banks of the Connecticut River, southeast o ...

, but grew up in

Lawrence, Massachusetts Lawrence is a city located in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, on the Merrimack River. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 89,143. Surrounding communities include Methuen to the north, Andover to the southwest, and Nort ...

after his father, a woolen mill executive, got a job there. He graduated from a business college in Boston and lived in

Malden, Massachusetts Malden is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 66,263 people. History Malden, a hilly woodland area north of the Mystic River, was settled by Puritans in 1640 on la ...

, until 1925, when he moved to

Melrose, Massachusetts Melrose is a city located in the Greater Boston metropolitan area in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Its population, per the 2020 United States Census, is 29,817. It is a suburb located approximately seven miles north of Boston. I ...

. Kanaly and his wife had two children.

Boston Athletic Association

Kanaly joined the Boston Athletic Association in 1911 as an assistant to George V. Brown. When Brown took over management of the

Boston Arena Matthews Arena (formerly Boston Arena) is a multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the world's oldest multi-purpose athletic building still in use, as well as the oldest arena in use for ice hockey. The arena opened in 1910 on what ...

in 1921, Kanaly succeeded him as athletic director of the B.A.A.. He held this position until 1935, when the club shut down. When the club reopened, Kanaly served as its secretary, a position he held until he suffered a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

in 1951. Kanaly was in charge of the

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was i ...

from 1942 to 1945 while B.A.A. president

Walter A. Brown Walter Augustine Brown (February 10, 1905 – September 7, 1964) was the founder and original owner of the Boston Celtics, as well as an important figure in the development of ice hockey in the United States. Life He was born in Hopkinton, Mas ...

was in the service.

Boston Garden-Arena Corporation

On October 27, 1942, Boston Garden-Arena Corporation general manager Walter A. Brown was granted an indefinite leave of absence while he went on active military duty and Kanaly, Brown's assistant, was named acting general manager. On January 30, 1945, Kanaly canceled a basketball game between

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

and the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. It is classified ...

after

Kings County Kings County or King's County may refer to: Places Canada *Kings County, New Brunswick *Kings County, Nova Scotia *Kings County, Prince Edward Island ** King's County (electoral district), abolished in 1892 Ireland * County Offaly, formerly call ...

prosecutors announced that five Brooklyn players had admitted to accepting money to throw the game. After Brown returned from the military, Kanaly stayed on as assistant to the president.

Amateur Athletic Union

In 1921, Kanaly was elected to the board of managers of the New England

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

. He served as the NEAAU's vice president until 1943, when he succeeded Herbert Holm as president after Holm stepped down to become secretary-treasurer. Kanaly managed the AAU's national boxing championships from 1921 until 1930, when the AAU moved the championships out of Boston.

Olympics

In 1924, Kanaly was in charge of the

United States Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...

's attaché office in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. In 1932 he was a member of the housing committee for the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Olympics.

Other activities

In 1936, Kanaly was the executive secretary of the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nation ...

tournament. He was also the secretary of the

Canadian–American Hockey League The Canadian–American Hockey League, popularly known as the Can-Am League, was a professional ice hockey league that operated from 1926 to 1936. It was a direct predecessor of the American Hockey League. For its first ten years the Can-Am's mem ...

Death

Kanaly died on February 15, 1953, at his home in Melrose.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanaly, Tom 1953 deaths American sports executives and administrators Boston Athletic Association People from Glastonbury, Connecticut People from Lawrence, Massachusetts People from Malden, Massachusetts People from Melrose, Massachusetts United States Olympic Committee Year of birth missing