By Sam Cortes, Communications Coordinator

It is that time of year again, where we get the opportunity to showcase this year’s class of Hall of Fame inductees. Over the next several months, we will continue to highlight these extraordinary individuals and teams as they take their place as Honoured Members.

 

Paul Robson (Multi-Sport/Builder)

 

“Grace” and “Elegance” are two words you would not use to describe Paul Robson on the football field. In fact, think of the exact opposite! He earned the moniker “Mad Dog” while playing for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers from 1964-1972. After his playing days finished, his outstanding leadership skills drove him to excel as a builder within the sport community.

Paul transitioned to the Bombers’ front office as the Assistant General Manager in 1974 and during his tenure, he helped establish the Blue/Gold football camp for amateur coach development. In 1983, he became the club’s General Manager where he helped build the Grey Cup champion ’84 team. It was the club’s first championship in 22 years. After building the dominant Blue Bombers teams of the ’80s, he moved east and became the GM of the CFL’s Ottawa Rough Riders and would later manage the Toronto Argonauts.

Paul’s exceptional leadership and communications skills saw him excel in many roles: a publisher with the Winnipeg Sun, CEO of the Red River Exhibition, and CEO of the CanadInns Corporation. It was his work in amateur sport though, that truly made him stand out in a crowd. He became Sport Manitoba’s very first Chair of the Board in 1996 after being the chair of the transition committee that merged The Manitoba Sports Federation and the Sport Directorate. He served on that board for 18 years.

In his incredible honour, Sport Manitoba named their resource centre after him – the Paul Robson Resource Centre for Leadership and Coaching. In 1999, he made many key contributions that lead to the success of the Pan Am Games held in Winnipeg.

Paul’s dedication to Manitoba’s sport and tourism sectors was rightfully acknowledged in 2012, when he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award of Distinction by Tourism Winnipeg.

For over 40 years, Paul worked tirelessly to grow sport in Manitoba and for that, he is a worthy inductee into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame.