Allan W. Pickard was an influential organizer and administrator of amateur

Amateur sports

Amateur sports are sports in which participants engage largely or entirely without remuneration. Sporting amateurism was a zealously guarded ideal in the 19th century, especially among the upper classes, but faced steady erosion throughout the 20th century with the continuing growth of pro sports...

 ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, and is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame

Hockey Hall of Fame

The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...

.

Biography

Pickard was born in Exeter, Ontario

Exeter, Ontario

Exeter is a Canadian community in the municipality of South Huron, in the southern portion of Huron County, Ontario, located approximately 50 kilometres north of London. The community proclaims itself the "Home of the White Squirrel", owing to the presence of the unusually-coloured mammals...

, and frequently traveled west to work in Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

 until moving there permanently at the age of 15. He played local hockey, but scouting was rare in rural areas of Canada. He spent time teaching, until moving to Regina, Saskatchewan

Regina, Saskatchewan

Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...

 where he began organizing a YMCA

YMCA

The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...

 league in the mid-1920s.

Building amateur hockey

His league eventually became the Regina Parks League, a league whose structure served as a model for other similar leagues in Canada. Players such as Grant Warwick

Grant Warwick

Grant David "Knobby" Warwick was a professional ice hockey right winger who played 9 seasons in the National Hockey League. He won the Calder Trophy in 1942.-NHL career:...

 and Eddie Wiseman

Eddie Wiseman

Edward Randall Wiseman was a Canadian ice hockey forward.Wiseman started his National Hockey League career with the Detroit Red Wings in 1932. He also played for the New York Americans and Boston Bruins. He retired after the 1942 season. He won the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins in 1941.-...

 played there before eventually moving on to NHL

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

 careers.

Pickard went on to coach and manage the Regina Aces, a senior team, where his accomplishments earned him a position with the Saskatchewan Amateur Hockey Association (SAHA). He eventually served two terms as president of the SAHA. A defining moment in Pickard's career was his work to organize and combine senior teams in Saskatchewan to become the Saskatchewan Senior League. Other future NHL players such as Elmer Lach

Elmer Lach

Elmer James Lach is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played 14 seasons for the Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey League. He was part of the Punch line, along with Maurice Richard and Toe Blake. He led the league in scoring twice, and was awarded the Hart Memorial...

, Max Bentley

Max Bentley

Maxwell Herbert Lloyd Bentley was a Canadian ice hockey forward who played for the Chicago Black Hawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and New York Rangers in the National Hockey League as part of a professional and senior career that spanned 20 years...

 and Doug Bentley

Doug Bentley

Douglas Wagner Bentley was a Canadian ice hockey left winger who played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Black Hawks and New York Rangers as part of a senior and professional career that spanned nearly three decades...

 developed here.

By 1947, Pickard worked himself up to president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association

Canadian Amateur Hockey Association

The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association was the national governing body of amateur ice hockey play in Canada from 1914 until 1994 when it merged with the Canadian Hockey Association or Hockey Canada....

(CAHA), where he organized amateur hockey interests from all over Canada. He held the post until 1950.

Pickard was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958, and died in 1975.

There was an elementary school named Al Pickard in regina that was closed in 1996.

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