Paul Bartle wins the Investor’s Group Volunteer Sport Administration Award

Football Canada and the Ontario Football Alliance are proud to announce that Paul Bartle was
presented with the Investor’s Group Volunteer Sport Administration Award on Saturday April 2 to
conclude the opening day of the 2011 Football Canada Coaches (FCCA) Convention. The winner of this award automatically becomes eligible for the Investors Group National Volunteer Sport Administrator Award. The winner of the national award receives a $1,000 Guaranteed Investment Certificate at the Sport Leadership Awards Dinner.

The Investors Group was a proud sponsor of the 2011 Football Canada Coaching Association (FCCA) Convention, a coaching development opportunity which was held April 2nd and 3rd in Burlington, ON at Corpus Christi Secondary School.

“I would like thank Football Canada for the opportunity of being nominated for the Investor Group
Volunteer Administration Award,” said Paul Bartle after receiving the award. Mr. Bartle further added, “This is great for the football community to have The Investor Group partner
with Football Canada to be able to recognize volunteers across Canada in the Administration side of the sport, I was very honoured and humbled to receive this Award when there are so many great volunteers that are deserving of such recognition”.

Paul has dedicated his life to football in Ontario for more than four decades. He has held administrative positions at the club, conference and league level over that period of time as well as playing the sport up to the level of the Senior Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU).

What makes Paul’s football career even more outstanding is that he overcame polio that struck him at an early age. Paul spent considerable time in the hospital fighting the disease and managed to survive it. This caused him to miss a lot of school but his efforts and determination made it possible for him to complete his high school education at Pauline Johnson Collegiate and Vocational School in Brantford.

While at Pauline Johnson, Paul became a fine football player in spite of a polio-damaged leg, which
might have deterred a less determined individual. After high school Paul took his considerable football skills to the local Brantford Bisons team in the Junior ORFU in 1967. A highlight of Paul’s junior career was an appearance in the 1968 Eastern Canadian football final against the Ottawa Sooners. After his junior career, Paul went on to further education at Fanshawe College in Civil Engineering and continued playing football in the Senior ORFU with the K-W Guelph Oaks.

In 1974, at the conclusion of his playing career, Paul became involved in the volunteer aspect of the sport. Among the positions he has held during his volunteer career are President of the Brantford Bisons, Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) Deputy Commissioner, twice Ontario Football Conference (OFC) President and is currently the OFC Past-President. Paul was also a founding member of the Brantford Bisons Alumni Association following the demise of the Bisons franchise in the OFC in 1982. Over the years that organization has donated considerable sums of money to the youth of Brantford in a variety of areas.

Due to his dedication to volunteering at these various levels, Paul has been made a member of the Brantford and District Hall of Recognition, granted a Life-Membership in the CJFL and is one of only a handful of individuals to receive the prestigious Ed Henick Meritorious Service Award from the CJFL. The late Ed Henick is a CJFL legend and a member of the Canadian Football
Hall of Fame.

Mr. Bartle was nominated for the award by Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) media co-ordinator Jack Emerson Low of Brantford and Ontario Football Conference statistician Jim Stevenson of London.

Paul lives in Cambridge Ontario and is married to his wife Diane, an Early Childhood educator, and they have two children, Beth and John Paul.

“Paul is a very deserving winner of this award and shows us all an example of what volunteers should be in helping grow the sport of football in Ontario and Canada,” said President of the Ontario Football Alliance, Ian Smith.

Congratulations to Paul Bartle for winning the Investors Group Volunteer Sport Administrator Award and thank you for all the work that you’ve done in support of football in Canada.

PICTURE: (Left to right)
Jack Emerson Lowe (CJFL), Paul Bartle, Ian Smith (OFA), Rick Soweita (Football Canada)