Pat Pickard is going strong

Earlier this month, Laurentian University unveiled the latest additions to the Voyageurs Hall of Fame family.

And while countless individuals have made their mark at LU, none can boast the longevity or influence of Pat Pickard.

Seventy-two years young, the New Brunswick native is just a few years shy of celebrating her 50th anniversary as a professor in the School of Human Kinetics.

The product of an athletic family, her career in the post-secondary realm began the year she graduated from the University of New Brunswick.

“My basketball coach went to the University of Manitoba to coach there,” Pickard recalled. “In January or February, she sent me a telegram, telling me there was a job opening at United College ... for a co-ordinator of women’s athletics, and women’s basketball coach.”

After two years, Pickard headed to the University of Western Ontario to complete her Masters. A friend mentioned a job posting at Laurentian University. The year was 1967 and LU was hiring its first co-ordinator of women’s athletics.

“I said I would come and stay for a couple of years,” laughed Pickard.

There was plenty to do, including building the base of varsity athletic programs. She started off with volleyball “because it was more high profile in the high schools in northeastern Ontario.”

But it wasn’t only on the field of play that Pickard would make her mark. After sitting in on a presentation at a sports administration conference, Pickard designed the first sports risk management course to be used by a Canadian university.

To this day, the insight that Pickard provides in the complex field remains topical to students who are now, in some cases, the children of students who sat in her classes 30 years ago or more.

And Pickard sees no reason to slow down.

“If I didn’t get up and enjoy coming in, I would stop,” she said.

Her passion for teaching has impacted the carriers and sports lives of thousands of graduates over the years, all of whom are likely truly thankful Pickard, a true maritimer at heart, decided to stay in Sudbury more than 40 years longer than she intended.