1917–1920 Hamilton Name Albert Prettyman 1946–1948 Hamilton | 1943–1944 Colgate 1918–1943 Hamilton Died 1963 | |
 | ||
Sport(s) American football, basketball, ice hockey, track Overall 11–10–3 (football)
151–91–8 (ice hockey) | ||
Albert I. Prettyman (died 1963) was a coach and athletic administrator at Hamilton College. During his coaching career he was head coach of many sports including basketball, track and field and football, but the majority of for his coaching work was in ice hockey. When he died the American Hockey Coaches Association called him "the father of college hockey."
Contents
Early life
Prettyman was born in Virginia. He attended International Young Men's Christian Association Training School (now known as Springfield College) in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he graduated in 1906.
College coach
After spending time at Columbia University and the Nicholas School in Buffalo, New York, Prettyman moved to Hamilton College in Clinton, New York to teach physical education and coach. At Hamilton he coached numerous sports including football, track, basketball, baseball and hockey. He is best known for his work with the hockey team. He started the Hockey team 1918. In 1921, Prettyman convinced the college to build an indoor hockey facility by using a portion of a large donation from the Russel Sage Foundation. Prettyman late became Hamilton's athletic director and from 1926 to 1946 the chairman of the ice hockey rules committee for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). He coached hockey at Hamilton from 1918 until 1943. For the 1943-44 season he moved to nearby Colgate for one season. In 1946 he returned to Hamilton for two more seasons as head hockey coach to finish his career with 151 wins, 91 losses and 8 ties.
1936 Olympics
Prettyman was the head coach for 1936 United States Hockey Team in the Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Prettyman led a team that included United States Hockey Hall of Fame member John Garrison. The team finished 6–2–1 record and a bronze metal including a tie with eventual gold medal winner Great Britain.
Legacy
Prettymen died in 1963. Shortly after his death the American Hockey Coaches Association called him "the father of college hockey." Even before he died Prettyman was the first person elected to the American Hockey Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame. Hamilton College honors him each year by awarding the Albert I. Prettyman Award to the player “who demonstrated outstanding dedication, determination and desire. His attitude has proven to be not only an asset to his team, but an inspiration to his teammates and coaches.”.