Norton Crow built a strong reputation as an athlete in baseball and speed skating and was eventually drawn into volunteer sports leadership during the “amateur wars” of 1906 - 1909 when there was a bitter feud with respect to whether athletes should be paid for their efforts. Norton was a strident supporter of amateur sport and as secretary of the Canadian Amateur Athletic Union rapidly became the driving force behind the campaign to promote amateurs.  Norton strongly believed that amateur sport could foster citizenship and appreciation for Canadian institutions. In addition to striving to send strong teams to Olympic Games and other international competitions, he also worked tirelessly to restore sports involvement across Canada after World War I.

Norton was a strong advocate for new facilities, the expansion of physical education in schools, training for coaches, subsidization of amateur sport organizations, and the development of a “Canadian Olympics” where amateur championships would be held every four years. Norton and his associates also worked to establish federal and provincial ministries of sports. The Ontario Athletic Commission Act provided for the implementation of many of his beliefs and laid the basis for the federal Fitness and Amateur Sport Act of 1961.