73 Facts About Fred Marples

Frederick Paul Henry Marples was a Canadian sports executive in ice hockey and athletics.

Fred Marples was president of the Winnipeg Monarchs team which won Winnipeg Amateur Hockey League championships in 1914 and 1915, and the Allan Cup as senior ice hockey champions of Canada.

Fred Marples sought to grow the game in rural regions of Manitoba, promote minor ice hockey as a source of future senior players, to keep players in junior ice hockey until age 21, and was against the exodus of amateur players to professional teams.

Fred Marples later served as secretary-treasurer of the club, then as a track and field official for the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada, the 1928 Summer Olympics, and the 1930 British Empire Games.

Fred Marples served as the head of mission for the Canadian delegation at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Germany, which saw the Canada men's national ice hockey team fail to win the gold medal amid disagreements on the eligibility of players and how the medals were determined.

Fred Marples was posthumously inducted as an individual into the builder category of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame, and was inducted into both the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame as a member of the Winnipeg Monarchs.

Frederick Paul Henry Marples was born on January 27,1885, in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Fred Marples grew up in a family of ten boys and one girl, raised by parents Francis William Marples and Katherine Marples.

Fred Marples ran on a Winnipeg North End Athletic Club team which won the relay event at the 1909 Canadian Track and Field Championships held in Winnipeg.

Fred Marples played recreational curling with the Winnipeg North End Athletic Club.

Fred Marples was elected secretary-treasurer of the Winnipeg North End Amateur Athletic Club in 1909, and helped co-ordinate its running events and track and field meets.

Fred Marples was a regular on-course judge and a track and field official for events held by the club and the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada.

Fred Marples was the club's delegate to meetings of the Manitoba branch of the AAU of C, was elected first vice-president of the branch in 1914, and sat on the organizing committee for the 1915 Canadian Track and Field Championships held in Winnipeg.

In 1922, Fred Marples resigned from the Winnipeg North End Athletic Club to focus his efforts on Canadian national teams and the Olympic Games.

Fred Marples remained involved as an on-course judge for the club's races, and was made honorary vice-president of the club in 1926.

Fred Marples was elected as the secretary-treasurer of the Winnipeg Amateur Hockey League in which the Monarchs played.

Fred Marples arranged extra time at the Winnipeg Amphitheatre for practices and games, and felt that it would improve the chances of the Monarchs winning the Allan Cup.

Fred Marples advocated for the league to appoint a board of on-ice officials to avoid in-season arguing over the selection of officials.

The league approved of the proposal by Fred Marples, appointed a board of referees in advance of the season, and chose to play its games at both the Amphitheatre and the Auditorium.

Fred Marples resurrected the Strathconas senior team and entered them into the Independent Amateur Hockey League, in addition to operating the Monarchs in the Winnipeg Amateur Hockey League.

Fred Marples felt it necessary to give the younger players more opportunities to practice and play in order to develop talent, secured more ice time and operated the Strathconas as a reserve team to support the Monarchs.

Fred Marples considered the Strathconas to be a reserve team for the Monarchs and that the decision was unfair to his team.

Fred Marples defended the action and stated that he and the club would ensure the players did not exchange or sell the motorcycles for profit.

The meeting formed a provisional Manitoba Hockey Commission with Fred Marples appointed as its secretary.

Fred Marples sent letters to other clubs and leagues in Canada and advocated for establishment of the national commission.

Fred Marples was formally elected secretary of the Manitoba Hockey Commission in July 1914, and assisted in drawing up recommendations for a constitution.

Fred Marples condemned the new club and stated that the Monarchs had already incorporated the Strathcona name into their club.

Fred Marples felt that the gift of motorcycles to the Monarchs had upset members on the Strathconas who then broke away to form their own club.

Fred Marples vowed to continue the Strathconas under the same management and was recognized by the Winnipeg Independent Hockey League as the representative for the Strathconas.

Fred Marples returned as secretary of the Winnipeg Amateur Hockey League which agreed to register players according to the Allan Cup's eligibility rules.

Fred Marples felt that the league's greatest achievement as of 1915, was the establishment of the CAHA and Taylor being elected the first president.

On behalf of the MAHA, Fred Marples accompanied the Winnipeg Falcons on their trip to Toronto that resulted in winning the 1920 Allan Cup.

Fred Marples convinced Winnipeg City Council to assist with travel expenses to Europe, after the Falcons were chosen to represent Canada in ice hockey at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Belgium.

Fred Marples wanted to see an agreement reached with professional leagues that kept players in junior ice hockey leagues until age 21 before signing a contract, and to grow the game in rural regions of Manitoba when MAHA registrations declined during the Great Depression.

The CAHA generated most of its income from gate receipts during the Allan Cup playoffs, and Fred Marples oversaw CAHA expenditures as approved by an agreement with the cup's trustees.

When ice hockey at the 1924 Winter Olympics was scheduled to be played during late January and early February, Fred Marples doubted that Canada would be represented since the proposed dates overlapped with the Allan Cup playoffs.

In 1924, Fred Marples was succeeded as secretary-treasurer by Dave Gill.

Fred Marples was named to the CAHA registration committee in 1925, then served as the CAHA secretary again from 1926 to 1945.

The CAHA agreed that any player who had not received remuneration could be reinstated as an amateur, with Fred Marples handling amateur reinstatement requests as the secretary.

Fred Marples summarized the decision by stating that amateur teams within the CAHA should not be a "feeding ground" for professional leagues.

Fred Marples reported that the CAHA lost approximately $7,000 by covering expenses for the national team to the 1936 Olympics.

Fred Marples was appointed by the subsequent presidents each year to be the secretary until 1945.

Fred Marples was one of the speakers giving a tribute to the CAHA where 11 of 13 past presidents were the guests of honour.

The financial situation had improved by 1939, and Fred Marples oversaw the CAHA assuming full responsibility to finance a national ice hockey team as of the 1940 Winter Olympics.

Fred Marples served as the secretary-treasurer of the Canadian Olympic Committee from 1922 to 1936, and represented the CAHA on the committee.

Fred Marples served on the AAU of C committees for women's athletics, legislation, and the Canadian Track and field championships.

In January 1924, Fred Marples announced that sending the Canadian Olympic team to the 1924 Summer Olympics would cost $40,000.

Fred Marples stated that unless the Canadian Olympic Committee could raise $20,000 to $25,000 within a couple months, the national team would be small and not representative of Canadian athletics.

Fred Marples felt that it was the duty of all Canadian citizens to ensure the strongest possible national team was sent the Olympics, and urged contributions from individuals, organizations, and provincial governments.

Fred Marples reported that it cost $460 to send each athlete to France, but the Canadian Olympic Committee still had financial reserves despite being approximately $1100 over budget.

In December 1925, Fred Marples was part of a delegation of amateur sports organizations who met with Duncan Lloyd McLeod, the Municipal Commissioner of Manitoba, and appealed for the amusement tax on gate receipts of amateur sporting events be repealed.

Fred Marples was treasurer of the Canadian national team which won the gold medal in ice hockey at the 1928 Winter Olympics.

Fred Marples served as an on-field official in athletics events at the 1928 Summer Olympics and later at the 1930 British Empire Games.

Fred Marples advocated for the establishment of a club in Winnipeg to support local athletes and raise funds to send them to the Canadian championships and Olympic trials.

Fred Marples emulated the success of the Hamilton Olympic Club which hosted the 1930 British Empire Games and was chairman of the committee to establish a constitution for the Winnipeg club.

Fred Marples was the chairman of a committee of local sports organizations which hosted a banquet for the Winnipeg Hockey Club who won the 1931 Allan Cup, and the Elmwood Millionaires who won the 1931 Memorial Cup.

Fred Marples served as the manager of the Winnipeg Hockey Club when they represented Canada in ice hockey at the 1932 Winter Olympics, then arranged a victory banquet in Winnipeg after the team won the gold medal.

The Manitoba Citizens' Olympic Committee was established in April 1932, with Fred Marples elected as its secretary.

Fred Marples arranged a series of four sporting exhibition events on behalf of the committee to prepare athletes and raise money for the 1932 Summer Olympics.

Fred Marples was part of a group of eight delegates from the Canadian Olympic Committee who lobbied Edgar Nelson Rhodes, the Canadian Minister of Finance, for funds to cover travel expenses for Canadian athletes to the Olympics.

Fred Marples denied that there had been any agreement to take care of the players' families while they were at the Olympics, and that the Halifax players had left the team voluntarily because they could not get what they wanted in terms of money.

Fred Marples replied that $11,000 was taken in gate receipts, but that the CAHA spent $6,000 towards transportation and lodging of the visiting teams to Halifax for the finals.

Fred Marples was the head of mission for the Canadian delegation to the 1936 Winter Olympics in Germany and oversaw all travel arrangements.

Journalist Lou Marsh reported that the CAHA did not have any representation on the international board of hockey referees, that no Canadian or American referee went with the team to Europe, and that Fred Marples chose to accept only Europeans refereeing during the Olympics.

In preparation for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Germany, Fred Marples urged for branches of the AAU of C to raise funds to make the Canadian Olympic team as large as it could be.

Fred Marples stated that the Government of Canada would contribute $10,000 towards the national team, and that the Canadian Olympic Committee sought to maximize profits from the 1936 Canadian Track and Field Championships to provide additional funding for the Olympic team.

Fred Marples's mother was killed at the St Vital Fair, on August 15,1924, and the subsequent MAHA executive meeting that month was postponed.

Fred Marples moved to Toronto in 1934, was involved in a brokerage business prior to World War II, then became a business partner in machine tool manufacturing.

Fred Marples died in Toronto on January 17,1945, after having a heart attack.

Fred Marples's funeral was held in Winnipeg on January 22,1945, followed by interment in Elmwood Cemetery in Winnipeg.

CAHA president Frank Sargent said that Fred Marples' death "was a great blow to the CAHA and a great loss to the Canadian hockey world".

Fred Marples felt that Marples was "one of the best officers the CAHA ever had", and had "always found him a guiding and valuable influence".

In 1989, Fred Marples was posthumously inducted as an individual into the builder category of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame.