His operation of a reserve team to support the Monarchs led to debates on player eligibility for the Allan Cup and calls for a national governing body of hockey.

He later served as secretary-treasurer of the club, then as a track and field official for the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada, the 1928 Summer Olympics, and the 1930 British Empire Games.

[5] Marples was elected secretary-treasurer of the Winnipeg North End Amateur Athletic Club in 1909, and helped co-ordinate its running events and track and field meets.

[6] He was a regular on-course judge and a track and field official for events held by the club and the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada (AAU of C).

[10] In 1922, Marples resigned from the Winnipeg North End Athletic Club to focus his efforts on Canadian national teams and the Olympic Games.

[15] The Monarchs merged with the Winnipeg Strathconas as of the 1912–13 season due to struggles in finding ice time, and elected Marples as their president.

[17] He arranged extra time at the Winnipeg Amphitheatre for practices and games, and felt that it would improve the chances of the Monarchs winning the Allan Cup.

Marples and the Monarchs felt that the league did not have the authority to bind any club to any single rink, and that the Amphitheatre had better amenities for the players and spectators.

[21] The league approved of the proposal by Marples, appointed a board of referees in advance of the season, and chose to play its games at both the Amphitheatre and the Auditorium.

[23] He felt it necessary to give the younger players more opportunities to practice and play in order to develop talent, secured more ice time and operated the Strathconas as a reserve team to support the Monarchs.

[26] Trustees for the Allan Cup also struggled to determine player eligibility since there was no authoritative national body to classify leagues by the level of play.

[28] After three days of negotiating, the Monarchs agreed to play without Irvin in a one-game Allan Cup challenge versus the Kenora Thistles, instead of the customary two-game series decided on total goals scored.

The new association adopted of a constitution, established by-laws and competition rules which included player registration and eligibility, recognized the Allan Cup as its championship trophy, and affiliated with the AAU of C to exclude professionals from amateur hockey.

The MAHA ratified the player registration rules put in place by the CAHA to maintain amateurism and exclude professionals, and sought to expand within Manitoba by recruiting existing leagues to join.

[37] Marples returned as secretary of the Winnipeg Amateur Hockey League which agreed to register players according to the Allan Cup's eligibility rules.

[41] The MAHA approved the Winnipeg Amateur Hockey League for the season with reduced expenses and profits donated to patriotic fundraising efforts.

[50] He convinced Winnipeg City Council to assist with travel expenses to Europe, after the Falcons were chosen to represent Canada in ice hockey at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Belgium.

[54] In June 1921, Marples and other MAHA officials met with CAHA president W. R. Granger to investigate into charges of professionalism in amateur hockey.

[68][69] When ice hockey at the 1924 Winter Olympics was scheduled to be played during late January and early February, Marples doubted that Canada would be represented since the proposed dates overlapped with the Allan Cup playoffs.

[77] When the George Richardson Memorial Trophy was established in 1932, Marples was named of three trustees of the cup which was annually awarded to the junior hockey champion of Eastern Canada.

[83] In September 1936, he announced that the CAHA's financial reserves had been further depleted during the Great Depression and that only $1,400 remained to cover expenses during the 1936–37 season playoffs.

[84] The Winnipeg Tribune journalist Ralph Allen felt that the smaller cities in Canada would suffer as a result of the financial shortage, and criticized the CAHA for creating the problem by being self indulgent, spending too much on team travel, and by covering expenses for delegates to attend meetings.

[87] The financial situation had improved by 1939, and Marples oversaw the CAHA assuming full responsibility to finance a national ice hockey team as of the 1940 Winter Olympics.

He felt that it was the duty of all Canadian citizens to ensure the strongest possible national team was sent the Olympics, and urged contributions from individuals, organizations, and provincial governments.

[95] Marples reported that it cost $460 to send each athlete to France, but the Canadian Olympic Committee still had financial reserves despite being approximately $1100 over budget.

[100] Marples advocated for the establishment of a club in Winnipeg to support local athletes and raise funds to send them to the Canadian championships and Olympic trials.

[104] He arranged a series of four sporting exhibition events on behalf of the committee to prepare athletes and raise money for the 1932 Summer Olympics.

The Canadian Olympic Committee and the CAHA removed four members of the Halifax Wolverines from the team after the players were reported to have asked for money to take care of their families while playing in Europe.

[108] The Maritime Amateur Hockey Association was upset with the dismissal of the players and accused the CAHA of misappropriating gate receipts from the 1935 Allan Cup held in Halifax.

[113] On the night before the Olympic hockey tournament began, the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace (LIHG) ruled that Jimmy Foster and Alex Archer were ineligible to play for the Great Britain national team since the players had violated the CAHA's transfer rules by departing for Great Britain without permission.