NAME: Bob Hindmarch
UNIVERSITY: UBC
CATEGORY: Coach
SPORT: Men’s Hockey
YEARS ACTIVE: 1948-1953 (student-athlete); 1955-1976 (coach); 1980-1992 (administrator)
HIGHLIGHTS:
Set school record with 214 wins as head coach of UBC hockey
Coached UBC to 1971 WCIAA hockey championship
Director of UBC Athletics for 12 years
Member of the Order of Canada
BIOGRAPHY:
For the better part of six decades, Bob Hindmarch was involved with UBC athletics , as an athlete, coach, educator and director of athletics.
As a student-athlete at UBC from 1948 to 1953, Hindmarch played three years of Thunderbird football, two years of baseball, along with spending two years with the UBC Chiefs Senior A basketball team and parts of two years with the Thunderbird basketball team that competed in the U.S. Evergreen Conference.
In 1952, Hindmarch was presented the Dr. Gordon Burke Award, as the UBC football player who best combined playing ability with inspirational leadership. He received the Bobby Gaul Award in 1953, as UBC's outstanding athlete in performance, leadership and sportsmanship.
After graduating from UBC in 1953, Hindmarch taught and coached football for two years at Duke of Connaught High School in New Westminster. Hindmarch returned to UBC in 1955 as assistant coach with the Thunderbird football team. In the ensuing ten years, he also helped coach UBC’s basketball and baseball teams.
In 1964-65, Hindmarch became head coach of the Thunderbird hockey team. Over his 12 seasons at the helm, the 'Birds recorded only one losing season, were the WCIAA champs in 1971, and totalled 214 victories, giving Hindmarch the career lead for UBC hockey coaches.
At the same time, Hindmarch established friendly university sports exchanges with universities in Asia and Europe that would continue for over thirty years. Some of these international exchanges, particularly to China, were the first of their kind by a Western nation, including the team's 1973 trip.
Hindmarch was appointed assistant professor of Physical Education at UBC in 1961 and became a full professor in 1974. From 19080 to 1992 he served as Director of UBC Athletics,, overseeing the Thunderbird varsity teams and intramural and recreational sports offered on campus.
Internationally, Hindmarch worked as general manager and assistant coach of the 1964 Canadian Olympic hockey team, which was based out of UBC. He served 16 years as vice-president of the Canadian Olympic Association and was Chef de Mission for the Canadian team at the 1984 Winter Olympics..
The Nanaimo, B.C., native has been inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame, as well as the UBC Sports Hall of Fame and has received both the Order of British Columbia and the Order of Canada.
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