When J. Michael Barr was a young man of 14, the Utica Free Academy (UFA) football coach recognized his natural talent and made him a starter on the Varsity football team.  It was a precursor of what was to come.  In four years at UFA (1949-1953), Barr would go on to earn letters in three sports (baseball, football and basketball) and numerous awards and accolades.

Few individuals made as much of an impact in local sports as Barr.  While an athlete at UFA, he would earn two Most Valuable Player Awards in baseball, one in football and one in basketball.  Throughout his four years, he was also a member of numerous All-Star squads, continuously chosen because of his tremendous athletic prowess.  Barr was simply the quintessential three-sport icon of his generation.

After high school, Barr would remain active in participatory athletics, pitching on Sundays in a ‘Sunday League’ and also playing semi-professional basketball, baseball, and football with his brothers, Dick and 2000 Greater Utica Sports Hall of Fame inductee Ronnie.  Their time on the semi-pro circuit was under the North Utica Athletic Association banner.

Barr would transfer the knowledge he learned as a player to the youth of the area via two avenues – one as a coach and one as an executive.  As a coach, he was would teach children of all ages for over 25 years.  From little league to high school, numerous young men and women in the North Utica area were under his tutelage.  When he passed away in 2004, Barr was remembered as on of the “best friends the sports world had in the Mohawk Valley.”

The second avenue, however, was where Barr would make his greatest impact.  As one of the finest executives in Central New York sports, Barr organized and coached in the Biddy Basketball League, housed at Seymour School, for five years.

Most significant, though, was when he implemented his dream of a Pop Warner football program in North Utica beginning in 1958.  Known for the last 45+ years of his life as “Mr. Pop Warner,” Barr coached the North Utica Black Knights for 25 years, including an unbeaten streak of 5 years where his teams went 29-0!  Because of his dedication to and concern for Pop Warner football, Barr was appointed Commissioner and President of the Tri-County Pop Warner Football Association in 1978 and served until his retirement in 1989.