Paul Barron-Builder

Inducted 2015

St. John’s Ball Hockey pioneer Paul Barron served as president of the St. John’s Ball Hockey League from 1988 – 1994.  He was responsible for the creation and expansion of the Canadian Eastern Men’s Ball Hockey Championships in 1989, which is currently ongoing and has since added a Men’s Group C Division and a Women’s division.  Barron was a strong promoter and technical director for the Newfoundland and Labrador Summer Games in ball hockey from 1992 – 2014 and he also initiated and introduced female ball hockey to the NL Summer Games in 2004.  Paul Barron was successful in putting together proposals to host the Canadian National Championships for the years 1994, 1997, 2002 and 2010 and served as chairperson of the host committee in all four years. The Newfoundland and Labrador Ball Hockey Association (NLBHA) presented a gift to him in recognition of his outstanding contribution to ball hockey over the past 25 years (1978 – 2002).  In addition, he served as president of Ball Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador from 1995 – 2007. Nationally, Paul was the Vice President of the Canadian Ball Hockey Association (CBHA) in 1997 and 1998, while he was the recipient of the CBHA Executive Award in 2002 in recognition of his contribution to the sport.  Internationally, in 2005, Barron completed and delivered a bid package and presentation to the International Street and Ball Hockey Federation (ISBHF) in Pittsburgh to 20 countries, securing the winning bid to host the World Junior Ball Hockey Championships in St. John’s in June 2008, where he served as Chairperson of the Host Committee and was also the recipient of the ISBHF Volunteer of the Year Award.  In 2010 he organized and initiated the first adult male provincial team selection which won gold at the 2010 National Championships and again, completed a bid package and presentation, which he delivered to the Canadian Ball Hockey Association (CBHA) provincial delegates where he secured the winning bid to host the World Men’s and Women’s Ball Hockey Championships in St. John’s in 2013.  Barron served as Chairperson of the Host Committee for that event.  In addition to his efforts in 2013, Barron was the recipient of the ISBHF International Development Award. It is because of Paul Barron’s hard work and dedication that the sport of ball hockey has evolved in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and has produced such success over the last decade.