Paul Carson, U of T’s long-time sports information director and later executive assistant to the dean of the Faculty of Physical Education and Health Bruce Kidd, has dedicated his career to promoting and preserving the rich sports tradition of the University of Toronto. On June 2 at the U of T annual Sports Hall of Fame ceremony, Carson was honoured with the Thomas R. Loudon Award, created by the Athletic Directorate in 1962 to honour outstanding service in the advancement of athletics. Professor Loudon was the inaugural recipient of the award and was closely identified with athletics at the University of Toronto during his lengthy career.
Carson has been associated with the athletics and recreation program at the University of Toronto and the OUA/CIS for more than 50 years.
As a student, he was involved with game operations for men's football and hockey, and refereeing intramural sports. Carson was the scorekeeper at the first Vanier Cup in 1965 and Vanier Cup media officer for 19 years, most recently in 2014. He was media officer for the University Cup for seven years and coordinated sports information for 27 Canadian national university championships hosted by U of T between 1973 and 1996. During his career, he was involved in the operation of more than 100 OUA championship events and in 2001 managed of media services for Canada at the World University Games in Beijing.
Carson caught the sports bug in high school. His mother, the head of the German department at St. Michael’s College, would bring home The Varsity every now and then. One day she brought home an issue that had a big article on a tribute night for Phyllis Lea, who was a long time secretary to the director of athletes for the men’s athletic association.
“They had a big event for her at a hockey game. The arena was packed and The Varsity had a picture of a full arena celebrating Phyllis Lea. I remember reading it and thinking this was a pretty nifty organization to have a tribute night for a secretary. Not for a coach, not for a director, not a hockey player, but a secretary. This is the kind of organization I might like to get involved in,” said Carson.
Carson was already involved in game operations in high school and he had started refereeing house league sports. So, he made his way to U of T, met with Phyllis Lea and was promptly hired based on his experience to work hockey and football games. And then he met Kay Boyd, who was secretary to intramurals, and she hired him to referee football. Both Lea and Boyd are inducted into U of T’s Sports Hall of Fame.
“Kay Boyd opened the door to refereeing and Phyllis Lea opened the door to operations,” said Carson.
He was hooked, but still felt obliged to follow in the path set out by his parents and enrolled in history at U of T, so that he could become a teacher. In first year’s geography class, Carson happened to sit next to a group of older students. One of them was Rick Kollins.
“They were all in The Varsity, Rick was sports editor. While the professor was teaching about geography, Rick was regaling us with stories about Varsity athletics. This seemed like a lot of fun and a few years later, I kept remembering the fun Rick and his buddies were having. So, when Rick left and one of his trainees became the sports editor at the Varsity, we both knew each other and I started writing for The Varsity,” said Carson.
The rest, as they say, is history.
“I went from helping out at games and refereeing to part time sports information to public affairs and writing about athletics to editor of the athletic's paper to sports information officially, and in the process developed this faith in utilizing students.”
Carson is talking about creating jobs for the work study program, potentially his favourite legacy.
“I was known for mentoring students. I was the biggest hirer of students in the faculty,” said Carson. “I always felt that if we give students meaningful work, they will come back.”
Mary Beth Challoner never left the Faculty. She was hired by Carson as a work study. Today she manages events and marketing for Varsity Blues.
“Paul Carson was a great mentor to me as a young 19-year-old searching for some direction and purpose at university, and he has continued to help me even after I graduated,” said Challoner.
“His professionalism and his generosity are endless. He is lovingly referred to as 'the Carsonian' and I can only thank him again for imparting some of the knowledge and passion to me.”
That’s a sentiment echoed by John Robb, who Carson recruited to write for the weekly Sportsweek.
“As an undergrad, I was lucky to work for and with Paul. Whether I was writing sports articles for him or refereeing with him, Paul made sure that everything was done the right way. His guidance was a key to my maturation and he remains a good friend to this day,” said Robb, who was inducted into the 2016 U of T Sports Hall of Fame with his teammates from the 1994-95 Varsity Blues men’s basketball team. Like Challoner, he stayed with the Faculty and now works as manager of the intramural program.
Carson left such a mark on the life of students at the Faculty, two awards were created in his honour.
At the time when Carson was retiring, the Faculty policy had been to give retirees a U of T chair. Working in the dean’s office, one of Carson’s jobs was to buy all those chairs. And, years before that, he bought himself a chair. So, he told Kidd he didn’t want a chair when he retired, because he already had one.
“Bruce said to leave it to him,” said Carson. “To my shock and delight, the Faculty created the award and the money that they would have invested into various gifts, including the chair, was invested into the seed funding of the award.”
Carson was delighted, but said he wanted the award to be for students who’ve been involved in administration, in helping out, and the Faculty accepted that. So, the Paul Carson Student Leadership Award was born, in addition to the existing Paul Carson intramural referee of the year award.
In 2004, Carson received a 25-year service award from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and in 2010, he was the first Canadian to receive a CoSIDA lifetime achievement award.
In September 2011, he received a U of T Arbor Award in recognition of his lengthy volunteer service to the University, and in 2013, he received the OUA’s J.P. Loosemore Award in recognition of his administration contribution to university sport.
Carson is currently the Chair of the U of T Sports Hall of Fame Selection Committee.