Harold Harvey was the visionary. Ebby Hare raised the funds to build a new arena. But it was Rev. Canon Minto Swan who perhaps had the biggest challenge of all, bringing together Kingston’s church community.

When the Church Athletic League was formed, Mr. Harvey envisioned an organization that would keep kids, “off the streets,” allowing them to play organized sports while encouraging their involvement in church life.

It was an ambitious undertaking. Especially in an era when religious denominations largely operated within their own communities. Turning that vision into reality would require someone with considerable influence, leadership skills and mostly importantly someone who had earned the respect of Kingston’s religious community.

That man was Rev. Canon Minto Swan.

As rector of St. John’s Anglican Church in Portsmouth and president of the Kingston Ministerial organization, Swan was uniquely positioned to bring the city’s religious leaders together in support of the Church Athletic League.

He enlisted the help of his student assistant at St. John’s, Mr. Robert Greene, who became the first secretary of the CAL and did tremendous work under the guidance of Canon Swan helping get local churches and congregations on board.

Swan, a great friend of Harold Harvey, was named the first president of the CAL in 1950. Working alongside Mr. Harvey and other early organizers to establish what would become one of Kingston’s most successful and enduring youth sports organizations.

One of the greatest challenges facing the proposed league was convincing religious leaders from different denominations to support a common sports organization.

In 1950, the religious landscape was far different from what it is today.

Anglican, Catholic and various Protestant congregations maintained their own traditions and identities. Bringing them together under one sporting banner required cooperation and a willingness to look beyond religious differences.

Swan was the ideal person to bridge those differences. While Harvey supplied the vision and inspiration behind the league, Swan was instrumental in bringing the religious community together and getting its support.

The CAL started with 22 participating churches and congregations and eventually grew to 63 religious organizations. It brought together young people from many different religious backgrounds through a shared love of sports.

By the mid-1950s, kids from different churches were often playing on the same team. One year, a team combined players from St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church with players from Bethel Gospel.

St. John’s Anglican had players from Zion United and Church of the Good Thief, a rival Catholic church in Portsmouth Village. Former CAL President Doug Nichols remembered a Sacred Heart Roman Catholic team from Wolfe Island that was coached by an Anglican minister and managed by a Presbyterian clergyman.

It was a remarkable achievement, and one that laid the foundation for 75 years of Church Athletic League history.

A Life of Service

Long before becoming involved with the CAL, Swan had already established a record of service that extended well beyond his work in the church. During the Second World War, he served six years overseas as a military chaplain in the Royal Canadian Air Force, attaining the rank of Major.

Following the war, in 1947, Swan moved to Kingston and became Rector at St. John’s Anglican in Portsmouth, a position he would hold until 1964.

His responsibilities extended well beyond his popular Sunday sermons.

Canon Swan served 14 years as chaplain at Collins Bay Penitentiary. He helped get a chapel built at the prison that opened in 1960 and a year later in an interview with the Kingston Whig-Standard, Swan said he had visited the families of 300 inmates to help those families get a new start. He noted that 79 percent of inmates at Collins Bay never got into trouble again.

“There is potential in every man. I believe God made every man with some potential for good.”

Swan also served as chaplain at the Princess of Wales Own Regiment and Kingston’s Ontario Hospital. He was the Dominion chaplain for the National Curling Association and President of Kingston Rotary Club. Swan also served as chaplain to the Kingston RCAF Association and was President of the Kingston Collegiate Home & School Association.

In 1962, he was recognized by the City of Kingston and placed in the Book of Honourable Achievement, alongside well-known Kingston sportsman Wally Elmer. That same year he received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Queen’s University.

Originally from Toronto, Canon Swan was ordained in the Anglican Church in 1923 and ministered for 41 years.

Three Pioneers, One Vision

The original concept of the Church Athletic League was straightforward. Young people regardless of, “race, religion or creed,” would have an opportunity to participate in organized sports. They were entitled to equal playing time regardless of ability. And regular church attendance was mandatory. Under the original rules, 80 percent church attendance was required to play in the league.

The CAL began play in 1951 with approximately 100 kids. By the end of the decade, it had grown to 2,500 kids and multiple sports. It became a major force in Kingston minor sports, offering hockey, softball, baseball and five-pin bowling that would serve generations of Kingston youth in the decades that followed.

The contributions of Harvey, Swan and Hare were different, but each played a vital role in establishing the Church Athletic League.

Harold Harvey, a successful Kingston businessman and sports enthusiast, was the driving force behind starting the league and creating its vision.

Canon Swan provided the religious leadership to bring Kingston’s churches together.

Ebby Hare, who became league president in 1959, would spearhead the fundraising needed to build the CAL’s first permanent home, the Harold Harvey Arena.

It opened in 1961 on a former quarry in Portsmouth located across the street from St. John’s Anglican Church. It was a remarkable accomplishment for an organization that had started just a decade earlier, with a vision to bring young people together through faith and sports.

A Personal Connection

Canon Swan’s story carries a special personal connection for me. Over four decades he officiated 2,000 weddings during his ministry, including my parents wedding. My mother Marilyn Westlake and Chuck Potter were married at St. John’s in May, 1955.

The three Potter kids were born within three-and-a-half years of each other and baptized by Canon Swan; my brother, Richard, sister, Heather, and myself.

Swan retired in 1964 and moved to Victoria, BC but his connections to family and former parishioners in Kingston remained strong. I remember when I was playing in the CAL, he would occasionally visit St. John’s and deliver a special sermon.

During his 17 years at the Portsmouth parish, the church grew from 100 families to 300 families. In that era, the church pews were filled on Sunday morning, and Sunday school was thriving.

Long before I fully came to appreciate Canon Swan’s involvement with the Church Athletic League, he had already played a meaningful part in my family history that goes back four generations in Portsmouth. The Westlake-Potter family was just one of the many Portsmouth families whose lives he touched through his work at St. John’s.

At age 81 Canon Swan passed away in Victoria, BC in October,1981. St. John’s Rector Canon James Scanlon reflected on his legacy in a Kingston Whig Standard article.

“Canon Swan showed a deep concern for people whom he served with great love and faithfulness. He endeared himself to hundreds of families at St. John’s.”

Scanlon added, “He will long be remembered for his famous series of baseball sermons, particularly one entitled, “Moses died on third base.”

Seventy-five years later, the contributions of the CAL early pioneers deserve to be remembered. For Harold Harvey, Canon Minto Swan and Ebby Hare their contributions went well beyond simply organizing a sports league.

That built something that would last through the generations, bringing people together, building relationships and creating the, “Citizens of Tomorrow.”

Whether it was helping young people find their place through the Church Athletic League, welcoming families into St. John’s Anglican Church, or offering encouragement to inmates at Collins Bay Penitentiary, Canon Swan devoted his life to helping others.

He believed in bringing people together, providing opportunities and, when necessary, offering a second chance.

His contribution to the Church Athletic League was just one chapter in a remarkable life of service.

The CAL will celebrate its 75th anniversary Friday night November 06 at Cataraqui Arena.