Barry Howson

Barry Howson was a track athlete in his youth, but switched to basketball after developing an early interest in that sport. By 1957, he had helped his high school win an Ontario provincial title, a feat that earned him a spot in the London Sports Hall of Fame with his team in 2008. After graduation, he was given a scholarship to play at University of Western Ontario and with them won the Ontario-Quebec Athletic Association Championship in 1961 and 1962. Simultaneously, he won Eastern Canadian Championships with the Tilsonburg Livingstons-London Fredericks and the Montreal Yvan Coutu Huskies in those years respectively. He also competed at the track and field trials for the 1960 Rome Olympics, but did not make the team.

After winning the Canadian national champion in 1964 with the Toronto Dow Kings, Howson was selected to represent his country in the tournament at the Tokyo Olympics. There, Canada ultimately finished 14th out of 16th teams, but Howson’s appearance made him the first black Canadian to represent his country in the sport. He also competed at the 1967 Pan American Games, where Canada was ninth, and the 1970 World Championships, where the team was tenth. During that time, he formed the Drawbridge Inn Knights of Sarnia and won the senior national championship with them in 1967. He remained in Sarnia for many decades, having earned a master’s degree in education from Wayne State University, and taught high school, in addition to coaching basketball.