PEI Sports Hall of Fame honours sport leaders with deep UPEI connections

Charlottetown, PEI (June 3, 2025)—The UPEI Department of Athletics and Recreation is Panther proud of Barb Carmichael (field hockey), and the late Barb Mullaly (university sport, recreation, and education), who were inducted as builders into the PEI Sports Hall of Fame at Credit Union Place in Summerside on May 24.

 

Carmichael and Mullaly both played integral roles in the development of sport at UPEI.

 

Barb Carmichael is the long-time manager of the UPEI Field Hockey team and had a 30-year teaching career at Charlottetown Rural High School, which included coaching field hockey, volleyball, and track and field.

 

Carmichael has been the driving force behind the strength and vitality of Island field hockey for over 40 years. Her unwavering dedication and advocacy for the sport have played a pivotal role in its continued growth and visibility on PEI, including at UPEI. Thanks to her tireless efforts—as an athlete, coach, administrator, official, and more—field hockey has not only endured but flourished, often in the face of resistance from decision-makers. Her influence has led to a record number of girls participating in the sport, athletes reaching national teams, and thriving programs at the community, high school, and varsity levels.

 

Katie Baker, former captain the Canadian women's field hockey team, and Lacey MacLauchlan, head coach for UPEI Field Hockey, who both were coached by Carmichael, read her citation at the recent induction ceremony, praising her passion and relentlessness.

 

"For her, it's never been about the spotlight. It's about providing opportunities, sharing a love of the game and building young women up around her," said Baker.

 

MacLauchlan added, "When Barb gets an idea… there is simply no saying 'no' to Barb," said MacLauchlan. "Barb's relentlessness has been demonstrated in many ways through advocacy for field hockey on PEI and across Canada."

 

Carmichael, a former Field Hockey PEI president and commissioner with the PEI School Athletic Association, was named Sport PEI's coach of the year in 1983, administrator of the year in 2007, and received the Sport PEI President's Award in 2014 for her years of dedication to sport.

 

Barb Mullaly was inducted into the PEI Sports Hall of Fame posthumously. Before her death in December 2016, Mullaly had a four-decade career as a classroom instructor, coach, and nationally decorated administrator, starting at Prince of Wales College and moving to newly established UPEI in 1969. She coached both basketball and field hockey and served 13 years as director of athletics at UPEI, where she always advocated for better education, fairness, and wellness for all, often in a critical sporting and social environment where she would be the lone female voice. Highly respected by all she encountered, she served as the president of Atlantic University Sport. She retired in 2006 as UPEI's first director of wellness and fair treatment advocate, and was named a UPEI Founder in 2010. Her legacy will be forever one of leadership, dedication, integrity, and equity. 

 

Mullaly was also active in the broader community both during her UPEI career and after retiring. She served as president and director of Sport PEI, as PEI representative for the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport, as master course conductor in the National Coaching Certification Theory Program, on the board of Active Living and Recreation PEI and GoPEI, and in several capacities over several Canada Games cycles. She was president of the Seniors College of PEI at the time of her death.

 

Ron Annear, Varsity Sport Coordinator at UPEI, who counted Mullaly as a supervisor, co-worker, and friend, read Mullaly's citation at the ceremony and talked about her positive impact.

 

Annear described Mullaly as courageous, highlighting her handling of challenges as athletic director as the clearest example of that strength. He emphasized that the way she navigated difficult situations defined her character, calling her "a true professional in every sense of the word."

 

"We are so proud of both of these inspiring individuals," said Jane Vessey, director of UPEI Athletics and Recreation. "Their time here at UPEI has been invaluable and has left a lasting impact in the lives of many student-athletes and colleagues. They are both highly deserving of this induction into the PEI Sports Hall of Fame."

 

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