Claude C. Robinson | |
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 Robinson with the Winnipeg Victorias | |
| Born | December 17, 1881 Harriston, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | June 27, 1976 (aged 94) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park |
| Alma mater | University of Manitoba |
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Claude Copeland Robinson (December 17, 1881 – June 27, 1976) was a Canadian ice hockey and sports executive. After winning an intermediate-level championship as captain of the Winnipeg Victorias in 1905, he served as secretary-treasurer and as vice-president of the Victorias. He coached the Victorias to a Manitoba Hockey League championship in 1909, and felt that his team could have competed for the newly established Allan Cup, despite that challenges from senior ice hockey teams were accepted only from Eastern Canada at the time. The Victorias won the Allan Cup by default in 1911, when the Toronto St. Michael's Majors refused to play, then successfully defended four challenges for the trophy.
Robinson arranged subsequent challenges for the Allan Cup as an executive for multiple leagues, including the Winnipeg Amateur Hockey League. By the 1914 Allan Cup, multiple debates arose on the eligibility of players, and numerous challenges for the trophy were difficult to manage. After he suggested to establish a national body for governing hockey and advocated his ideas to amateur clubs across Canada, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) was founded on December 4, 1914, with Robinson elected as secretary. He also helped establish the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association in 1914, and later served as its vice-president. He remained a trustee for the Allan Cup until 1937, was a trustee of the Abbott Cup for junior ice hockey from 1919 to 1942, and was chairman of the CAHA finance committee from 1933 to 1937.
Robinson helped establish the Manitoba Amateur Athletic Association in 1907, and oversaw finances for the provincial track and field championships. He favoured an alliance between the CAHA and the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada (AAU of C), and opposed former professionals competing in amateur sports. He disagreed with the CAHA changing its definition of an amateur, which led to separating from the AAU of C in 1937. He served as treasurer of the AAU of C from 1919 to 1940, and was treasurer of the Manitoba Citizens' Olympic Committee to fund local athletes. He was the honorary assistant manager of the Canadian delegation to the 1932 Winter Olympics, and oversaw travel arrangements as the associate manager of the Canada men's national ice hockey team.
Robinson became the first life member of the CAHA in 1925, and was a life member of the AAU of C. When the CAHA had its silver jubilee in 1939, he was appointed to oversee the celebration, and Winnipeg was chosen as host in recognition of his work to establish the CAHA. In 1945, he was among the inaugural group inducted into the builder category of the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the International Hockey Hall of Fame, the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, and posthumously into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame.