Al Allison

Scotland-born Ian Allison came to Canada at young age and was active in track and field athletics, soccer, Canadian football, and basketball at Walkerville Collegiate Institute in Walkerville, Ontario. He participated in the latter two sports at Assumption College in Windsor (now known as Assumption University) and the University of Toronto, studying at what is now the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. He even appeared in four games of professional football with the Toronto Argonauts in the 1930s, before blood poisoning ended his career. Of all the teams he played on, however, he found the most success with amateur basketball’s Windsor V-8s, with whom he won the Canadian Championships in 1936 by defeating the Victoria Dominoes. This earned him a trip to the 1936 Summer Olympics, where he participated in the first official Olympic basketball tournament. After overcoming Brazil, Latvia, Switzerland, Uruguay, and Poland, the Canadians met the United States in the final and lost 19-8, settling for a silver medal. Allison scored 24 points and played in all six matches.

Allison had a career as a teacher at Walkerville Collegiate from 1933 until his 1973 retirement, but also served in World War II as a Major with the Calgary Tank Regiment. While teaching, he took up roles as a coach for the school’s basketball and track and field teams. Among others, he has been inducted into the Canadian Basketball, Windsor-Essex County, and University of Windsor Sports Alumni Halls of Fame, the latter as a graduate of Assumption College.