At the turn of the century, Paddy Brennan was already established as one of the top amateur lacrosse players with the Shamrock Lacrosse Club of Montreal, Quebec. By 1904 he was being offered opportunities to turn professional, but refused them all. He was therefore able to participate in the trials for what would become Canada’s first truly national amateur lacrosse delegation and was selected not only to travel with them to the 1908 Summer Olympics, but to act as a captain. The squad arrived in London six weeks early, but eventually defeated the British team, their only opponents, 14-10 and secured a gold medal. His amateur status also meant, however, that he had to work as a businessman outside of lacrosse, and he his presence on the team was at times sporadic. Work pressures eventually led him to announce his retirement in May of 1909. In 1912, however, he returned to the Shamrocks when the National Lacrosse Union voted to reinstate the role of the field captain, and the Shamrocks’ president refused to take on the role himself. He even played in one more game with the team in July 1915 and scored a goal. Shortly thereafter he left the sport for over a decade, but by the late 1920s he had renewed his interest and began to work to raise its popularity. He also served as the coach of Montreal’s St. Willbrord lacrosse team before taking up that role with the professional Montreal Maroons in the early 1930s. In addition, he held the position of the Maroons’ manager and accepted the role of honorary coach with the Verdun Athletic Club’s amateur lacrosse squad. He remained active in promoting the sport at all levels until the 1950s, when he began to experience heart troubles, and he died in May of 1961.
Canada