A London 1908 Olympic Games gold winner's medal presented to Patrick Brennan captain of the Canadian lacrosse team, gold, designed by Bertram MacKenna

A London 1908 Olympic Games gold winner's medal presented to Patrick Brennan captain of the Canadian lacrosse team, gold, designed by Bertram MacKennal, the obverse with two young women crowning a victorious athlete with a laurel wreath, the reverse with St. George, patron Saint of England, slaying the dragon This was lacrosse's second and final appearance at an Olympic Games following its introduction at St Louis in 1904. South Africa withdrew from the London Games leaving just Great Britain and Canada to compete in the gold medal match. The match was played at the White City Stadium and Canada won the game 14-10 to claim gold. 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. 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. Paddy Brennan has been attributed as the inventor of indoor box lacrosse, a modern version of the game introduced in Canada during the 1920s and 30s. Brennan was said to get annoyed by the constant slowing of play from balls going out of bounds in the field game, and began experimenting with indoor games at the Mount Royal Arena, Montreal, during the early 1920s. 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. Patrick ''Paddy'' Brennan was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1966. Provenance: By family descent