The Queen’s Journal has gone through many changes since it first appeared in 1873, and the sports section has changed with it. Let’s take a look at how much sports journalism at The Journal has changed as we celebrate these last 150 years.
Volume 1: 1873-74
In Vol. 1, sports reporting wasn’t close to the type of sports journalism we see today. Without a dedicated sports section, stories were simply dispersed throughout the paper.
The first sports story was published on November 22, 1873.
Several sports stories were briefs of games, they didn’t include the score, simply reporting whether or not Queen’s won. In the first volume, the only sport that was covered was soccer, which was then known as foot-ball.
The first two games took place on October 31, 1873 against the St. Lawrence Club. According to the story, at the time, the soccer team was made of only arts students. There were no scores reported, only that Queen’s was victorious, winning two games in one hour.
The Journal’s next reported game was on November 6, 1873 when the arts students played against a chosen roster of players from the Kingston community. Queen’s was again victorious.
On March 14, 1874 The Journal published the regulations for the game of soccer, brought about at an 1873 New York Football Convention. The Journal published 12 rules, including field length, teams must win by six goals, penalties, and more.
On May 2, 1873, The Journal wrote a story on the establishment of the Athletic Association, a student-run association that promotes healthy living at Queen’s. Their constitution was also published.
Vol. 50: 1923-24
Jumping 50 years into the future, the biggest immediate difference in The Journal’s sports section was the inclusion of photos. The front page of the first issue of Vol. 50 featured an image of Fly Wing and then-Captain of the Men’s Rugby team, Doc Campbell.
Though no action-shots made the paper, this development allowed readers to visualize the games. Students were no longer just reading if a Queen’s team won or loss, but could see it on the page.
Sports stories on this front page from October 1, 1923 included a post-game summary of the Men’s Rugby season opener against McGill, and included a letter from the Men’s Rugby Head Coach William Hughes, which outlined how proud he was of his team, cheering the season ahead.
By Vol. 50, a true sports section had been established, and featured ads for sports related businesses, such as a sporting goods store. This section included two ads for cigarette brands, which were deemed an essential part of a healthy lifestyle at the time.
In the October 9, 1923 issue, The Journal published a recap of a rugby game against McGill that outlined the score, players, and the atmosphere in crowd. The story was similar to a game recap we would see today, but with fewer statistics from the box score.
Vol. 101: 1973-74
Even more familiar might be a page from the September 11, 1973 issue from Vol. 101. With game recaps becoming more and more present in The Journal’s sports pages, with them came photos of the players in action.
The Journal also published try-out times for both men’s and women’s sports. This marked a big change from Vol. 50 by covering the women’s athletic teams that existed at the time.
On September 18, 1973, The Journal reported that four players from the Canada Games were among nine women on the Queen’s Field Hockey team. Their names were Karen Carson, who was captain of Team Ontario, Laney Marshall, who became the Team Ontario top scorer, goaltender Pat Jamieson, and Gail Thompson who played on Team Quebec.
In Vol. 101 sports stories contained more statistics and encomed the full story of the game. However, these stories were still missing the post-game quotes we see today.
Vol. 151: 2023-24
If you’re reading the print edition of this story, just look one page over and you’ll see how much The Journal has evolved over the last 150 years.
Often containing interviews from coaches and players, The Journal is now one of a few news outlets where Kingstonians and Queen’s students alike get their sports news.
While The Journal largely covered varsity sports like football, rugby, soccer, and hockey in the past, The Journal’s coverage today extends to club teams as well.
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