A pioneer in the study of Human Kinetics and sport science, Howell was also an effective and innovative rugby coach revolutionizing the style of rugby played at UBC and BC. An international rugby star, Dr. Howell coached and taught at UBC from 1954 until 1961, his scientific coaching principles leaving an enduring influence on the sports of rugby and swimming. The first to do research in UBC Human Kinetics, it was through his direction the Commonwealth's first Masters degree program in Human Kinetics was instituted at UBC.
Professor Emeritus Max Howell was first known to BC and UBC when he came to Canada as a 19 year old with the Australian Wallabies on the tail-end of their nine-month 1947/48 world rugby tour.
From 1950 until 1954 Howell attended the University of California at Berkeley and each of those years, as the core of the Berkeley rugby team, played in every World Cup game against UBC.
Upon graduating in ’54 with the first doctorate degree in Physical Education ever awarded an Australian, Howell immediately accepted a teaching and coaching position at UBC, UBC offering seriously the study of Human Kinetics and sport science. In addition to teaching a number of theoretical and practical courses he was the UBC swim coach in 1954/55 as well as assistant Thunderbird rugby coach. The ex-Bird nemesis was also head coach of the UBC Braves rugby team and when coach Albert Laithwaite retired in 1959 Howell took over the Varsity Thunderbird head coaching reins. He would preside as the Thunderbirds prized and innovative rugby coach for the 59/60 and 60/61 seasons.
Howell’s influence in rugby was felt immediately upon his arrival in Canada as he revolutionized back play in particular, introducing to BC the concept of the extra man, the man around and an elaborate scissors move. He was the first person in the world to utilize a running lineout, against the Wallabies in 57/58. This concept now accepted around the world, was a Howell and UBC first. Gary Sinclair, one of Howell’s players at UBC recalls “ . . . he was a student of the game and changed the way rugby was played, he made it more of a spectator sport.”
Coaching the Braves for five seasons, his teams were frequent winners of the Bell-Irving Cup and during three of those seasons were undefeated. In 1959/60 the Thunderbirds won the Miller Cup with him in charge and in 1960/61 the McKechnie Cup and the World Cup. A highlight of the 60/61 season was the Thunderbird 18-11 victory over the touring Japanese Yawata team. The UBC “Totem” reported that good coaching coupled with rugged practice had developed a strong, confident team this year.
Howell’s forte was in the careful coaching of young backs and he nurtured such players as Ted Hunt, Gary Sinclair, Donn Spence (who would become a UBC Hall of Fame rugby coach) and Bob Morford (who would become UBC’s Director of Physical Education), to mention just a few.
In swimming, he guided UBC to the U.S. Evergreen Conference championship in 1954/55, an experience Howell would later recall as the biggest thrill he had as a UBC coach. He was also Director of B.C. Red Cross Water Safety for five years and did much to promote swimming and instruction of swimming throughout British Columbia.
To illustrate Howell’s impact in coaching, the “Ubyssey” wrote in 1955, Howell’s first year, “Coach of the year? A toughie and so to make it easier we’ll limit the selection to the man who took on more than one team and his success with them. Max Howell, newcomer to Varsity, coach of the Evergreen Conference champion swim team and mentor of the Bell-Irving champ Braves rugby team.” “Howell took you to a higher level” states Sinclair. “Through his influence I became a better coach.” Moreover, it was quickly becoming apparent Howell was developing a real liking for his players, UBC and Canada.
Dr. Howell was the first to do research in the UBC Physical Education department and under his direction instituted the first Masters degree program in Physical Education in the Commonwealth. The program’s first three students were supervised by Howell with Bob Morford being the first graduate with the degree, later to return to UBC as Director of the School.
A research plan was developed by Dr. Howell during this time and adopted by B.C. swimmers, involving motor ability and cardiological tests. The Vancouver Sun reported, “The program, although new in Canada is the same type that made Australia a swimming power . . . Once a month the 15 swimmers undergo a series of exhaustive tests at UBC under the discerning eye of Dr. Howell.” Howell was heading a program the “Sun” referred to as “men in white coats, stethoscopes and mathematical formulae.”
On September 1, 1961 Dr. Howell reluctantly left UBC for the University of Alberta where he was entrusted with developing the first Phys.Ed. Doctorate program in the Commonwealth as well as conducting a wide scope of research.
Dr. Howell would ultimately gain three doctorate degrees, the last an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree for his contribution to graduate education in Canada. He is one of the very few Canadians to receive a Centennial Medal for contribution to sport studies and sport history. And in 2003 he was awarded the Order of Australia for his contribution to sport studies and sport history both in Australia and overseas.
At UBC, which was the beginning of his academic career, he revolutionalized the style of rugby and was a mentor to many of UBC’s finest rugby prospects of his era. He applied scientific principles in his coaching of swimming and rugby, aiding in the development of those sports in Canada. He was also a Canadian and British Commonwealth pioneer in the advancement of degree programs in the School of Physical Education (now Human Kinetics). Though his tenure at UBC was short, his influence was lasting. He remains a Canadian citizen to this day.
Researched and written by Dr. Stan Knight, edited by Fred Hume, UBC Athletics Historian
