Sam Jacks

The West End YMCA moved to its present West End branch at College Street and Dovercourt Road in 1912, now in Toronto.

Samuel Perry Jacks (April 23, 1915 – May 14, 1975) more commonly known as, "Sam Jacks," was a Canadian soldier in World War II, inventor, military and civic recreation director, sports coach, creator of the Canadian sport of ringette for girls and the creator and codifier of the first set of rules for floor hockey in 1936.

He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1915 and became a Canadian citizen after his parents had immigrated to Canada in 1920.

Samuel Perry Jacks was born April 23, 1915, in Glasgow, Scotland, less than a year after the outbreak of World War I in July 1914.

The war would end in November 1918.

In 1920, when Jacks was roughly five years old, he and his family moved from Scotland, immigrated to Canada, and settled in Toronto.

While stationed in England during World War II, Jacks met Agnes MacKrell (1924–2005) at a dance while he was a recreation director in the army.

Agnes Jacks was born in Scotland and her family moved to London, England, just before the outbreak of World War II.

Agnes had been working at a munitions factory in England when she and Sam met toward the end of the war while Sam was finishing six years of having served with the Canadian Armed Forces.

The couple then married and Agnes automatically became a Canadian citizen.

After the war the couple arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, then moved to Toronto, Canada with their first son, Barry.

They later had two more sons in Canada, Bruce and Brian.

Agnes was a war bride.

In 1935, Jacks was 20 when he began his professional career in recreation becoming the Assistant Physical Director at the Toronto West End YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association).

In 1936, while in his early twenties and a year after he had begun his professional career at the YMCA, he invented and codified the first set of rules for the first organized version of floor hockey.

The Game was designed for youths to play in a gym and was a variant of hockey that used a straight stick and a felt disk with a hole in the middle.

The achievement was later recognized by the Youth Branch of the United Nations.

Jacks would hold that position until 1940, a year after the outbreak of World War II in 1939.

After the outbreak of World War II, Jacks enlisted and became a member of the Canadian Armed Forces serving from 1940 to 1945.

During his time with the Canadian military he served with the, 1st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Chemical Warfare School, and served with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion in charge of sports for South West England.

On September 30, 1945, the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion was officially disbanded after it had returned to Canada and hostilities in Europe had ceased.

In 1946, Jacks returned to the West End YMCA in Toronto to continue his professional career.

Among his numerous duties part of his time was spent working with postwar juvenile "gangs."

He also created the Toronto Boy's Club and became its first president.

It is possible that The Game was related to or actually was the organized sport of netball, which had been introduced to Canada during the early 1960s.

Jacks died from cancer in 1975, at the age of 60.

At the time of his death in 1975, Jacks had reportedly been working on another game for girls during his spare time, which he called "Net Ball."

After Sam died in 1975, Agnes became an important lifelong and committed ambassador for the sport of ringette, which Sam had created in 1963.

He was also posthumously inducted into the North Bay Sports Hall of Fame on February 27, 1982.

In 1996 she was inducted into the Ringette Canada Hall of Fame as a "Builder" for her commitment and ambassadorship for the sport of ringette.

He was inducted into the Ringette Canada Hall of Fame in 1998 during the 10th annual Canadian Ringette Championships.

Jacks is best known for inventing the sport of ringette, although he died before it gained popularity.

For the World Ringette Championships, the Sam Jacks Trophy, which is given to the winning team in the senior division of what is customarily a three-game series between Team Canada and Team Finland known as the "Sam Jacks Series," is the highest international trophy in the sport and is named in his honour.

In a similar fashion, Ringette Canada honoured Jacks by naming its "Belle" division championship trophy for the Canadian Ringette Championships in his honour, the "Sam Jacks Memorial Trophy."

Today the "Belle" division is known as the Under-19 (U19) division.

The Sam Jacks Trophy for the Under-14 AA (U14AA) winners of the Eastern Canadian Ringette Championships is named after him as well, a trophy that was donated by his wife, Agnes Jacks.

On Saturday, October 26, 2002, she was inducted as a member of the Order of Canada and was also recognized with the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal for her contributions to women's sport.

For a time she served as the Honorary President of the International Ringette Federation.

She died of heart failure on April 1, 2005, at the North Bay General Hospital at the age of 81.

Among his many achievements and honours was his posthumous induction into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.