A resident of Burnaby for more than 50 years, John Haar, is the only athlete in UBC history to be offered professional contracts in three sports… baseball, soccer and football.

Haar turned down offers to be a kicker for the BC Lions of the CFL and the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys and another to join Canada`s national soccer team. He chose, instead, to sign professional contracts with the San Francisco Giants (1964) and New York Yankees (1966) and played in both their minor league systems for four years.

He was Canada’s national baseball team coach and manager for a number of years. In 1986, when the National Baseball Institute was formed, Haar became head coach and manager. Eight players from the NBI went on to major league careers and 30 players signed professional contracts.

Haar has twice been inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and in 1992 was named World Coach of the Year in International Baseball. Haar was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.