Mens Basketball: Carl Trask

Yarmouth County native Carl Trask was a distinguished athlete who starred on virtually every mens team at Acadia during the late 1920s and early 1930s. He excelled in swimming, water polo, rugby and baseball, and he was captain of the 1930 men’s varsity basketball team that captured the Eastern Canadian Championship.

In the Eastern Canadian finals, Acadia defeated Windsor Collegiate Alumni by a two-game total of four points. Carl Trask led the scoring in the series with 18 points of 48 scored by his team. As a result of Acadia’s win, for the first time in history, a Canadian title was battled for in the Maritime Provinces, and on April 22, 1930 the Western champs, the New Westminster Adanacs, traveled to Wolfville for the two-game final. The Halifax Herald reported, “This town is basketball mad … this is one of the biggest contests Wolfville will ever know. After an exciting display of talent from both teams, Acadia went down to defeat in a two-game total-point series 60-40.” Carl was an important part of this team that came so close to bringing national glory to Acadia.

Carl was also a prolific athlete in the pool, playing on the water polo team and competing in “fancy diving,” along with his teammate, Carrol Cain. Not content to compete on the hard court and in the water, Carl was also an avid rugby player and a standout on that team under the tutelage of the famous Major Fred Kelly.

After achieving a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science at Acadia in 1931 and 1933 respectively, Carl attended Dalhousie Medical School. After his graduation in 1938, Dr. Trask distinguished himself in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, serving his country as a doctor from 1939-1945.

After the war, Carl returned to Canada to pursue post-graduate studies at the University of Toronto and later began a lengthy career as Director of the Saint John General Hospital in New Brunswick.

Carl received a Honourary Law Degree from Dalhousie University in 1968, and in 1979, Dalhousie Medical School named him Alumnus of the Year.