Erwin Swangard (11 May 1908 – 5 May 1993) was a German-born journalist.

Swangard Stadium Swangard Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Central Park (Burnaby), Central Park in Burnaby, British Columbia. Primarily used for association football, soccer, rugby, Canadian Football, football, and sport of athletics, athletics, the stadiu ...

is named after him.

Biography

Swangard was born in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Germany in 1908. He emigrated to Canada in 1930. As a journalist, he covered the 1936 Olympic Games for the ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, and is the larg ...

'' and the ''

Toronto Globe ''The Globe'' was a Canadian newspaper in Toronto, Ontario, founded in 1844 by George Brown as a Reform voice. It merged with ''The Mail and Empire'' in 1936 to form ''The Globe and Mail''. History ''The Globe'' is pre-dated by a title of the s ...

''. From 1951 to 1959, he undertook various editorial roles at the ''Vancouver Sun'', concluding as managing editor. In sports development, Swangard founded the Tournament of Soccer Champions in British Columbia, which expanded from 70 to 2,500 teams. He also contributed to the inception of the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

and was instrumental in establishing

in Burnaby's Central Park in 1969. Between 1976 and 1989, Swangard served at the

Pacific National Exhibition The Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) is a nonprofit organization that operates an annual 15-day summer fair, 12-day winter fair, a seasonal amusement park, and indoor arenas in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The PNE fair is held at Hastings ...

(PNE), during which the event underwent significant changes. For his community efforts, he was awarded the Paul Harris Fellowship Award in 1987 and became a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

in 1989.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swangard, Erwin 1908 births 1993 deaths Mass media people from Munich German emigrants to Canada German sports journalists Canadian sports journalists