John Welch Hamilton (June 11, 1886August 5, 1976) was a Canadian sports executive. He served as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) from 1930 to 1932, and as president of the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada (AAU of C) from 1936 to 1938. He was also a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee for 17 years. His leadership of the CAHA and the AAU of C coincided with efforts to maintain amateurism and combat growing professionalism in sport. He appointed a committee to establish better relations between the CAHA and professional leagues, and praised the players and teams for quality hockey and growth of the amateur game in Canada despite the competition. He favoured professionals in one sport playing as amateurs in another, and took charge of the AAU of C at a time when the CAHA, the Canadian Amateur Basketball Association, and the Canadian Amateur Lacrosse Association challenged the definition of amateur, and later broke away from the AAU of C which wanted to hold onto purist ideals of amateurism.

Hamilton served two years as president of the Saskatchewan Amateur Hockey Association, and had multiple terms as president of the Southern Saskatchewan Hockey League. He operated the Queen City Gardens for 11 years, and helped organized the construction of ice hockey rinks in Saskatoon, Regina and Moose Jaw. He was the secretary and treasurer of the Regina Roughriders from 1922 to 1938, sat on the rules committee for the Canadian Rugby Union, and served as president of both the Saskatchewan Amateur Rugby Union and the Western Interprovincial Football Union. His career in sports was recognized with the King George VI Coronation Medal in 1937, and induction into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame, the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, and Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.

Early life and early sports involvement

John Welch Hamilton was born June 11, 1886, in the hamlet of Sim's Locks, near Caledonia, Ontario.Ferguson, Bob (2005), p. 184 He was the oldest child of three boys and one girl, to parents Robert Hamilton and Janet Shields Welch. Hamilton became a school teacher in Ontario, then moved to Sutherland, Saskatchewan in 1909, and taught at Sutherland School.

Hamilton was involved with the Sutherland Baseball Club as its secretary and treasurer from 1912 to 1916. He married Catherine Edith McDonald on September 8, 1915, and they later had two sons. He became mayor of Sutherland in 1916. He organized construction of an enclosed curling rink and an outdoor ice hockey rink for the town. Hamilton and four partners organized construction of an arena with seating for 3,500 spectators in Saskatoon in 1918.Mlazgar & Stoffel, (2007), p. 57

Hamilton moved to Regina, Saskatchewan in 1921, and worked at Security Lumber Company. He later became general manager of the lumber yard in Regina. In a guessing competition at a lumber convention, he correctly identified 136 different samples of wood to become Canadian champion in 1930.

The Saskatchewan branch of the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada (AAU of C) chose Hamilton as its president in 1921. He remained in the role for 15 years, and also served on the national registration committee. The AAU of C named Hamilton as a delegate to the Canadian Olympic Committee in preparation for the 1928 Summer Olympics.

Hamilton served as the secretary and treasurer of the Regina Roughriders from 1922 to 1938, and was president of the Saskatchewan Amateur Rugby Union. He was president of the Western Interprovincial Football Union for the 1928 season.

Saskatchewan Amateur Hockey Association

In senior ice hockey, Hamilton was the coach and manager of the Regina Victorias from 1924 to 1927. He became vice-president of Saskatchewan Amateur Hockey Association (SAHA) in 1924, then served as its president from 1925 to 1927. As league president he succeeded in reversing its financial troubles. While SAHA president, he served as a governor of the original Saskatchewan junior ice hockey league, and sat on the registration and resolution committees for the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA).

In the wake of the Regina Capitals leaving for Portland, Oregon in 1925, a group of Regina businessmen proposed to finance a professional hockey team for the city if the public supported it. Hamilton successfully garnered support instead for amateur hockey at a public meeting, by promoting the junior hockey quality of the Regina Pats who won the 1925 Memorial Cup and the progress of the Regina Victorias in the Allan Cup playoffs.

Hamilton served as president of the Southern Saskatchewan Hockey League during the 1925–26 season. When the Brandon Wheat City Hockey Club applied to be members of the league, Hamilton stated that first priority should be given to teams in Saskatchewan and was against the request. He arranged for an executive meeting to deal with the application, and later admitted the Brandon team when eight of nine executive members voted in favour. Hamilton later awarded the league championship to the Regina Victorias when he ruled that Brandon had used two ineligible players in the playoffs.

Canadian Amateur Hockey Association Vice-president

Hamilton was elected vice-president of the CAHA in March 1928, at the same meeting when control of the Allan Cup was formally handed over from its trustees to the CAHA. He was re-elected vice-president in March 1929, and was named to the finance committee which controlled all CAHA funds except for Allan Cup proceeds. He was placed in charge of junior and senior playoffs for Western Canada, and stated the lack of artificial ice surfaces in Alberta and Saskatchewan as a reason for playing the finals in Winnipeg.

President, first term Hamilton was elected president of the CAHA on March 29, 1930, to succeed W. A. Fry. Hamilton's time as president began during a period of growth in junior hockey which saw CAHA registration increase to 13,675 players. He submitted a motion in which the CAHA would accept registrations from any former professional players reinstated as amateurs by the AAU of C, although those players would not be eligible for the Olympic Games. He also appointed a committee to establish better relations between the CAHA and professional leagues.

The CAHA was faced with the new situation of players returning from professional tryouts without signing a contract. The AAU of C had a policy that such players would be classified as professional and ineligible for amateur play. Since the policy had not been enforced before, Hamilton stated that the CAHA would cancel those players' cards without penalty to the team. He later arranged to have a mail-in vote for the CAHA to decide whether or not players who tried out for professional teams but who were not signed to a contract could be reinstated.

At the 1931 general meeting, Hamilton praised the players who chose to remain as amateurs despite the lure of professional teams, and the resulting of increase of registrations. He also praised the organizations which continued to produce quality hockey for the Canadian public despite inroads by professional teams, and felt that the security of the CAHA rested "upon the ideals and practices of honest and honorable men". The CAHA decided not to reinstate amateur status to players who tried out with professional teams. It also disallowed any of its teams to play exhibition games against professional teams, and let the AAU of C decide whether professionals in one sport could be amateurs in hockey. The CAHA also approved the naming of the host location for Allan Cup and Memorial Cup finals a year in advance, as opposed to the executive deciding a month in advance.

President, second term

Hamilton was re-elected president of the CAHA on April 3, 1931. Teams soon began to speak out against the increased turnover of players due to raids by other teams. Hamilton issued a warning to all players that inter-branch transfers requested before the May 15 deadline, would be investigated to ensure a valid reason for moving between provinces of Canada and eliminate the "hockey tourist" travelling about the country in search of a better team. In advance of the August 15 deadline to register with one's own branch, Hamilton issued another warning and stated that investigations would continue and that a national meeting might be called to resolve the issue. The decision was a change from the previous year's deadline when the CAHA had approved all transfers submitted without investigation due to the Great Depression and the need to relocate for employment.

In October 1931, the CAHA executive changed the deadline to a reside in a branch from May 15 to January 1, in an effort to stop the "hockey tourist", and investigate bona fide transfers for employment. The change effectively meant that a player had to sit out for a season before he could transfer between branches. The Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association refused to approved transfers for eight of its players to Montreal and Moncton without a sworn affidavit by each player for the reason of the transfer. In an effort to combat increasing professionalism, Hamilton announced that the CAHA would not reinstate players as amateurs who had tried out for professional teams, despite a ruling from the AAU of C which since allowed for reinstatement.

Hamilton responded to charges of professionalism in leagues in the Maritimes by saying that a hearing would be conducted if an official complaint was received. In an effort to ensure amateurism, he announced that players taking part in provincial finals for the 1932 Allan Cup and 1932 Memorial Cup playoffs would be required to recite an oath similar to the Olympic Oath, and declare they meet all amateur requirements. Any violation of the oath would render the player's team ineligible for the remainder of the playoffs.

At the general meeting in 1932, the CAHA considered implementing the forward pass in the amateur game, as used in the professional game to reduce the frequency of offside infractions. In an effort to educate, Hamilton circulated diagrams of hockey plays where the rules were regularly misinterpreted such as offside. Registration with the CAHA had increased in five consecutive seasons despite competition from professional teams. Hamilton declared the playoffs were financially successful, and felt that the CAHA had the confidence of the Canadian public for tending to the "moral and physical uplift of our athletes". He was succeeded as CAHA president by Frank Greenleaf from Montreal.

Sports involvement in the 1930s

Hamilton continued to serve as president of the Saskatchewan branch of the AAU of C until 1936, and was named chairman of the AAU of C registration committee in 1930. He was named to the AAU of C executive by its new president, J. Howard Crocker in 1932, and named to the committee for redistricting AAU of C branches in 1933. In 1930, Hamilton stated efforts would be made to establish a provincial baseball association. He later served as president of the Saskatchewan Amateur Baseball Association from 1933 to 1934.

Hamilton favoured professionals in one sport playing as amateurs in another, as it would grow amateur baseball in Saskatchewan by allowing hockey professionals to players an amateur summer sport. At the AAU of C general meeting in 1930, Hamilton unsuccessfully sought for the approval of professionals having a secondary amateur sport. He also advocated for the reinstatement of soccer players who had unknowingly played against a professional hockey player in a soccer match. Two years later, Hamilton tried again to no avail. At the general meeting for the AAU of C in 1933, Hamilton tried a third time to allow professionals in one sport to compete as an amateur in another sport. He received strong support from Western Canada, but the motion was defeated by opposition from Eastern Canada.