EDMONTON HISTORY, WOMENS BASKETBALL COMMERCIAL GRADS BEST IN BASKETBALL 1915-1940 ...In 1914 J. Percy Page, a newly appointed teacher at the McDougall Commercial High School in Edmonton, Alberta began conducting physical education classes for the female students in the school. He set about teaching them basketball, a fairly new sport that was making considerable headway in Edmonton at the time. The McDougall Commercial High School girls decided to enter a team in the high school league. They won every game in their first year and became holders of the Richardson Trophy for supremacy among Edmonton schoolgirls’ teams. The next year, in the spring of 1915, the McDougall Commercial Girls’ Basketball team entered a provincial championship series against the Camrose Normal School team and emerged victorious. At the end of that season, the team members decided that they wanted to continue playing the game after their graduation from high school. They formed the Commercial Graduates’ Basketball Team on June 15, 1915. Since the Commercial Graduates’ Basketball Team was made up of ex-students, however, it was barred from playing in school leagues. Therefore, in order to find suitable competition for regular season games the team played against men’s teams in their practice sessions. The Commercial Graduates’ Basketball Team or the Edmonton Grads as they became known, retained a close connection with McDougall Commercial High School. Practices were held at the school and new team members were recruited from the school by a “farm system” developed by J. Percy Page. Girls attending McDougall Commercial High School could play basketball on a junior team after which they progressed to a senior team. From there girls could become “Gradettes,” a team made up of players with the ability to become Edmonton Grads, but having to wait their turn for an opening on the team. From 1915 until 1940, the Edmonton Grads played 522 official games in Canada, the United States and in Europe, winning 502 and losing 20. They played their last game on June 5, 1940. Three decades later, on April 18, 1973 the Edmonton Grads were admitted to Edmonton’s Hall of Fame. A year later in April 1974, they were admitted to the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 11:19:33 +0000