Bison Sports, Faculty of Kinesiology & Recreation Management and the University of Manitoba proudly announce the renaming of the fieldhouse at the Fort Garry campus will now be known as the James Daly Fieldhouse located at the Max Bell Centre.

The official unveiling of the name will occur as the Manitoba Bisons host the 2015 Canada West Track and Field Championship during the February 27-28 weekend and occurs on day one at 7:15 p.m. CT at the Fort Garry campus. James (Jim) Daly O.M., O.C. will be present at the naming ceremony.

Daly, 88, has been known as "Mr. Track and Field" for Manitoba with his numerous contributions throughout the many years at the University and the community. Starting with his University of Manitoba contributions, Daly started the track and field club at the University in 1949 while working at his insurance business. In 1968, he accepted the full-time position as Assistant to the Director of Physical Education and he continued in his role as coach. In 1978, he departed the Physical Education position to establish the first Department of Private Funding, with the understanding that he could continue to coach, which he did until his retirement in 1996. In his position as Assistant to the Director, Daly was involved in the planning of the Frank Kennedy Centre and the indoor complex affectionately know as the "Gritty Grotto". 

Daly's influence in the community at large involved significant impact in different areas. Daly was a founding member of the Legion Athletic Camp at the International Peace Gardens in 1962 and coached each summer for many years. In the 54th year, the camp has grown and developed into one of North America's top athletic camps for school-aged children and is operated by some of the finest coaches anywhere. Daly continues to coach cross country at Fort Richmond Collegiate (over 10 years) and before that at Chancellor Junior High School. Recognizing that there is a shortage of coaches at this level, through the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association, he established a Mentors' Program and recruited 30 mentors to assist track and field coaches plus he is currently is developing a plan to extend the reach of the mentors to rural Manitoba.

In addition to his presence and experience at coaching, Daly has been a major contributor of track and field events. In the 1950s, he coordinated events at Minto armories, and then at the new Winnipeg Arena (1955) where he hosted some meets of an international caliber. Other involvements by Daly include the Boeing Indoor Classic, hosted at the Max Bell Centre since 1981 for 1,000 elementary students in relays and 1,000 others in individual events; co-founder of the Great Grain Relay, in 1983, as the first event in Max Bell which continues today with over 500 participants in relay teams; National Junior and Senior Championships, some of which were Olympic Trials plus several years as a coach for Special Olympics.

Daly was also instrumental in bringing major international events to the province of Manitoba. Daly was the Executive Director of the 1967 Pan American Games after being one of the people to spearhead bids for those Games in 1963 (unsuccessful) and 1967 (successful), and then 1967 host committee was awarded the Olympic Cup for establishing a new standard of organization. He also was part of the process of the successful bid for Winnipeg to host the Pan American Games again in 1999.

Daly's extensive resume is wide ranging. It includes being the manager of Canada's 1964 Olympic Team to Tokyo; Daly also served an eight year term on the Board of Tennis Canada and helped the sport for acceptance into the Olympics. At the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal, CBC Radio hired him for colour commentary at the opening and closing ceremonies along with eight different sports. Daly was Canada's Chef De Mission for both the 1986 and 1990 Commonwealth Games; He was an advisor to the organizing committee for the 2002 North American Indigenous Games hosted by Winnipeg and those Games had a record attendance of 6300 athletes, the largest of any Games at the time.

At the University of Manitoba, Daly led two major fund-raising campaigns. In 1976, Jim was seconded from Physical Education by President Ralph Campbell to establish the University's first Office of Private Funding. In 1978, he led fund-raising initiatives until his retirement in 1996. He was responsible for two major campaigns with the first being the Centennial Campaign in 1977 – a project that was initially to replace the Bison Garden Arena and a Library addition but morphed into a successful $12 million campaign that involved the Library addition but blossomed into an Arena, indoor track and field complex plus research centre. In 1987, Daly was lead in the Drive for Excellence Campaign, which raised funds for one major building: the Brodie Centre at the Bannatyne Campus and included the first physical fitness facilities at that campus. The other major thrust was to increase endowment funds as he introduced students to contribute to endowment funds specific to their faculties. This approach was extremely successful and still in place today as the campaign was a rousing success by raising $68 million. After the end of the Drive for Excellence Campaign, Daly established the Planned Giving Program for the university.

Lastly, Daly has been honoured throughout his amazing life. He entered the Order of Canada in 2001, Member of the Order of Manitoba (2000), Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame (1994), Builder Award for the Legion Athletic Camp at the International Peace Gardens (2011) and Mayor's Senior of the Year Award (2013).