Congratulations to the Class of 2024

John Cardinal | Lubbock ISD Athletics Community Supporter  

John Cardinal has been a longtime supporter of Lubbock ISD athletics. He is the founder of Cardinal’s Sport Center, and has always looked for ways to help the school district.

Cardinal is a 1943 graduate of Floydada High School. He joined the Navy and was deployed to the South Pacific during World War II as part of the first task force to enter Japan. Following his discharge from the Navy in 1946, he enrolled at West Texas State College (now West Texas A&M). He was offered a football scholarship after the WT Football Coach noticed Cardinal playing intramurals.

After college, Cardinal became the assistant football coach at Snyder High School from 1950-1951. From 1951-1952, he was the head football coach at Springlake-Earth High School. He went on to coach at Canadian High School, where he later was the principal from 1956-1959.

Cardinal moved from education, into business. He joined Buck’s Sporting Goods in Amarillo in 1959, where he spent the next ten years as a salesman working with schools throughout West Texas.

In 1969, Cardinal purchased a sporting goods store in Lubbock that would become Cardinal’s Sport Center. Cardinal’s has had a business relationship with Lubbock ISD since 1969, and has continually supported the district through advertising and other fundraisers.

In 1986, Cardinal became an integral part of developing a group of companies, under the name Sports, Inc., into a billion-dollar corporation. He served as president of their athletic division for 6 years.

While developing his business, Cardinal still made time for student athletes and coaches. He made available the opportunity for local retired coaches to share coffee on Tuesday mornings. This led to charity work by the group, and Cardinal’s “Turkey Project,” which benefited many Lubbock ISD families.

Indicative of his work, he was inducted into the Texas High School Coaches Association Hall of Honor in 2004. Cardinal was also awarded the Greg Sherwood Service Award by the ASCO West Texas Football Classic in 2014.

Cardinal married his late wife Kathleen Grady in 1948. They have three children and eight grandchildren. Two of their children and six of their grandchildren graduated from Monterey High school. The Cardinals were actively involved in Lubbock ISD football, basketball, tennis and golf.
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