Rabbitts, John Victor

John Victor (JVR, Jack, Bunny) Rabbitts (1909-1964), athlete, civil servant, coach, sports writer, was born in St. John's on October 4, 1909, the son of Jessie (Clarke) and Fred Rabbitts. On October 4, 1957, he married Dorothy Elizabeth Hewerdine. They had no children. Rabbitts died in St. John's on 8 August 1964.

Rabbitts attended the Methodist College, St. John's, where he participated in football (soccer), hockey, and track and field (athletics). He joined the Church Lads Brigade (CLB) in 1923, where he played football (soccer), hockey, basketball, and track and field, and was a member of the rowing crew in the St. John's Regatta (1925-1928). He also participated in tennis and curling.

Rabbitts attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston before returning to St. John's to work as a civil servant with the Newfoundland Government. He was an executive member of the Newfoundland Amateur Athletic Association (NAAA), founder (1935) and president of the Newfoundland Lawn Tennis Association, and served on the executives of hockey and basketball sport governing bodies. An avid bowling enthusiast ("Mr. Bowling"), he organized tournaments and developed public interest in the activity. He also coached gymnastics at the CLB and Bishop Feild College (1950). He organized the All-Newfoundland Football Association (and was first president in 1950) and was later made an honourary life member of the association.

Rabbitts involvement in sport also included research, writing, and chronicling. For forty years he was a regular sports contributor to local newspapers. In 1979 he was inducted posthumously into the Newfoundland and Labrador Sports Hall of Fame. The Basketball Newfoundland Hall of Fame inducted him as a builder in 1984. The Newfoundland Soccer Hall of Fame inducted him in 1985, and the Newfoundland and Labrador Tennis Hall of Fame followed suit in 1986.

Created - April 26, 2013

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