You can support Canadian History Ehx with a donation at http://www.buymeacoffee.com/craigu
There have been many amazing sports dynasties.
The Montreal Canadiens dominated the 1950s and 1970s.
The Edmonton Oilers lifted the Stanley Cup five times from 1984 to 1990.
The Grey-Cup was won by the Toronto Argonauts from 1945 to 1952.
Those were all great teams who set the bar high in their respective sports.
As great as they were, they couldn’t compare to a team that played over 400 games and won 95 percent of them and dominated their sport like no other. A team so good that they won every trophy possible.
And then, faded away never to return again.
I’m Craig Baird, this is Canadian History Ehx and today we free throw our way into the slam dunk history of a basketball team that dominated the sport well before we knew of Michael, Kobe or LeBron.
A team made up of women centuries before Sue Bird, Caitlin Clark, and Angel Reese became WNBA household names.
This is the story of… the Edmonton Grads!
It’s one of the most popular sports in the world.
Millions of people watch March Madness, NBA and WNBA games in North America and millions more watch basketball around the globe.
But the sport wouldn’t exist were it not for a Canadian named James Naismith.
If you search his name, you’ll find pictures of an older man with hair parted down the middle and combed down flat on either side with a thick moustache and glasses.
He doesn’t look like someone who would invent a sport that would become a pop culture phenomenon that according to Space Jam is enjoyed by humans, cartoons and aliens alike…
Naismith looks more like a guy who wrote about atoms
But as the saying goes, don’t judge a book by its cover because looks can be deceiving.
As a young man, he was very athletic. Born in 1861 in Almonte, about an hour away from Toronto in what was then Canada West and now is Ontario, he grew up on a farm and spent his days outside where he played catch, hide and seek and duck on a rock.
Now if you’re wondering about that last one, just know that duck on a rock is a game from medieval times where a player guards a large stone from opposing players who try to knock it down with smaller stones.
At McGill University, he was a football, lacrosse, rugby, soccer player and even won several medals in gymnastics.
He took that love for sports and turned it into a career.
From 1888 to 1890, he was McGill’s first director of athletics before he moved on to the YMCA International Training School in the United States.
While at Springfield College, he wanted an indoor game for his athletes to play during the cold winter months.
The head of physical education at the college, Luther Gulick, liked the idea and gave Naismith 14 days to invent a game that wasn’t rough, didn’t take up much room, kept athletes in shape and emphasized fair play.
To ensure his invention wasn’t dangerous, Naismith used a soccer ball that would be passed rather than run. To score, athletes would put the ball in a peach basket located on either side of the gym which were high on a pole so they could not be guarded like a net.
He had just created what he called Basket Ball, two words and it came 13 basic rules which included not running with the ball, no cradling the ball in their arms, no holding, pushing or tripping and if there were three consecutive fouls, the injured team received a point.
The first game of basketball was played in December 1891.
On March 12, 1892, the first public basketball game was played with 200 people in attendance.
From here, the game only grew.
After making his mark in history, Naismith founded the University of Kansas basketball program in 1898 and basketball became an Official Olympic Sport at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.
Naismith died, 1939, the same year the first NCAA Basketball Tournament began.
But this episode isn’t about Mr. Naismith, as important as he is to the story.
This is about a team that took his invention and played it to a level of excellence not seen before, or really, since.
In fact, Naismith said “The finest basketball team that ever stepped out on a floor.”
Before I share more about this legendary team, the next character in our story is John Percy Page.
He was born only a few years before Naismith created Basket Ball in Rochester, New York on May 14, 1887.
After Percy graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen’s University, he taught in New Brunswick for several years before taking a position introducing commercial training at McDougall High School in Edmonton.
As soon as he arrived at the school, he created a basketball program.
His assistant wanted to coach the boys’ team, so Page took on coaching the girls.
At the time, Page was far from an expert in the sport.
He had a basic knowledge of how it was played and hoped to learn more as he went but first, he had to pick the best female athletes at the school to build his team.
With a team assembled, Page held practices twice a week.
There was no gym at the school, so practices were held on one of the few outdoor basketball courts in the city.
In the famous words of Allen Iverson
“We in here talking about practice… not a game not game…. practice” https://youtu.be/eGDBR2L5kzI?feature=shared&t=50 (0:50 – 0:59)
That’s right, the team practiced throughout the year.
And if you know ANYTHING about Edmonton weather you know it can be unforgiving.
It didn’t matter if it was a boiling hot day in the summer, or bitterly cold in the winter, Page’s team was out there on the courts honing their hooping skills.
In 1914, the team began its first year of competitive play, and easily outplayed every other team in the city.
By the end of the year, they had won the local high school tournament.
It was the first championship, but it wasn’t going to be their last.
The players that won that first championship graduated from high school in 1915, and that may have been the end of the team.
But…they knew they were good and loved playing together so instead of letting disbanding the team they formed the Commercial Graduates Basketball Club.
That name was eventually shortened to The Commercial Graduates, before it took on the much more famous, and better sounding, Grads.
Page loved the team he had created too, and he became the coach for the newly formed team, made up of many of his former students.
But how long could he maintain his roster intact?
At the time, whether a single woman worked as a secretary or teacher, once she married, that was the end of her employment.
Page had that same societal belief. He was a man of the times and felt that a woman’s loyalty was first to her husband and no basketball team would change that.
Once a player got married, she would be cut from the team.
This meant there would be a constant need to replace players.
To ensure that steady supply, he set up what we would call a minor league system by continuing to coach a high school team and recruit the best players to move up to the secondary team, The Gradettes and from there the best players moved on to The Grads when a spot became available.
The twice-a-week practices continued, but now they were held Mondays and Thursdays from 8 to 9:30 pm and only for half the year from September to June.
To allow easy integration from team to team he typically included the younger players from The Gradettes in practices so the younger players could get accustomed to the faster pace of The Grads.
This use of feeder programs is how most sports now operate worldwide.
Legendary coach Jim Valvano believed that success was not just about achieving one’s goals, but also about the journey and the first step for him was to dream and to dream big.
When coaching his players, Percy Page gave his players a similar message.
He told them they had to not just play basketball but think it and dream it.
He also emphasized the importance of fair play.
Quote, “You are ladies first, and basketball player second. If you can’t win playing a clean game, you don’t deserve to win.”
And The Grads loved to win.
In 1915, the first year they competed, they beat every opponent in the province to become champions.
The team dominated the province from then on.
In 1917, no team challenged them for the title, there was no point in spending time and money to attend a tournament that The Grads were in because they rarely lost.
For four years they were practically undefeated until April 27, 1919 when The Grads faced the University of Alberta Varsity team in the provincial championship and lost by two points ending their run as champions.
That didn’t sit well with The Grads, and in November of that same year they challenged the varsity team and won their title back.
In April 1920, the varsity team demanded a rematch and challenged The Grads, but once again were defeated.
In what was becoming a heated rivalry…. Not happy with the loss, the University of Alberta team demanded an immediate rematch, refusing to wait three months as was custom so yet another game was played, and this time the varsity team emerged victorious.
The Grads may have lost the provincial title, but by this point they had bigger dreams in mind.
Tired of the competition in Edmonton and Alberta, The Grads traveled east to compete in their first Canadian basketball championship.
Led by captain Eleanor Mountifield, a player who the Canada Sports Hall of Fame called a finisher, with the ability to break away from opponents and score, The Grads took on the London Shamrocks for the title on May 1, 1922.
The Edmonton Journal wrote,
“The Grads after annexing the city and provincial ladies’ basketball titles journeyed to Eastern Canada where they met the London, Ontario team in the Dominion finals. The local girls were greatly superior to the Eastern tossers and brought the championship to Edmonton.”
Following the win, Edmonton Mayor David Duggan sent a congratulatory telegram letting the team know that upon their return they would be given a big public welcome.
On May 23, they were met by representatives of the city, the school board and board of trade and as The Grads got off the train they became guests of honor in a grand parade from the station to the Hotel Macdonald, the ritziest hotel in the city.
Since they arrived at 7:05 a.m., they were greeted by a banquet breakfast rather than dinner for the championship team.
Now Canadian champions, this dream team had loftier goals in mind… they had their sights on continental glory.
In 1923, the first International Underwood Trophy Tournament brought together women’s teams from Canada and the United States to compete for the trophy in Edmonton.
Heading into the tournament, The Grads wanted a challenge and, they wired the following message a telegram to the Toronto team,
“We are the world’s champions. If you want the title, come and get it.”
Their hopes for tough competition were dashed when The Grads easily outmatched the rest of the field and easily defeated the best team in the east.
They now looked to take on the best American team, the Cleveland Favorite-Knits, in the Final.
The Grads defeated the American team 55 to 33 and became the first Underwood Trophy champions. The Edmonton Journal wrote,
“The champions, evidently under the impression that they were in for the battle of their lives, started out from the opening whistle like they meant business, and it did not take them long to settle down into their real stride. The Grads were strong in every position, and none of the visitors came anywhere near outplaying their check.”
For the next 17 years, The Grads dominated and were undefeated for the Underwood Trophy.
In 1940, the tournament committee just gave them the trophy to keep in their permanent possession.
Of the 120 games they played for the Underwood Trophy, The Grads lost only six.
Without viable continental competitors to challenge them, The Grads now hoped for global domination at the Olympics.
Basketball first appeared as a demonstration sport at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, but it wasn’t successful and didn’t return for the next two decade until the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Once again, a demonstration sport, basketball teams from cities and clubs in France played against YMCA teams from chapters around the world but primarily from North America.
Along with the men’s tournament, a women’s tournament was held, and the Edmonton Grads would get a chance to compete at the Olympic level.
On June 28, 1924 the team boarded a train in Edmonton, bound for Quebec where they then would take an ocean liner to Britain for their final destination… France.
Prior to their departure, Coach Percy Page sent a letter to the Edmonton Journal to thank their fans, quote,
“On leaving Quebec, the members of the team wish the executive to express through the medium of your paper their appreciation of the kindnesses shown by the people of Edmonton and other towns and cities along the line. We all feel that we are honored by being able to carry the Canadian colors upon the athletic field of France and Britain.”
It was a long journey for The Grads and players got seasick on the oceanic cross but by the time they made it to France they were healthy and ready to play.
On July 10, 1924, their domination began by beating the French team 64 to 16.
Four days later, the team took on a basketball team from Paris and defeated them 65 to 12.
The Edmonton Journal wrote,
“The heat was terrific and after assuming a 20-point lead in the first period, the Grads took things easy.”
The Grads never lost a single game and outscored their opponents by an average of 60 to 10 and as the tournament progressed the crowds followed The Grads and in front of a crowd of 5,000 people, they beat the Strasbourg team which had been their toughest competition of the tournament, 37 to 8.
The Grads were Olympic champions.
To celebrate, they went on a holiday through Europe while Page, along with Grads Winnie Martin and Daisy Johnson, attended the International Women’s Sports Federation.
Canada was admitted as a member, and the Grads were officially declared as the World Basketball Champions.
The Edmonton Bulletin wrote,
“All hail the world champions. After sweeping aside all opposition on the North American continent, these intrepid girls journeyed far across the seas to wage battle with the best the old world could produce, and when the great test came, those bonnie lassies rose superior.”
When the Grads returned to Edmonton on Sept. 1, an estimated 15,000 people, or 25 per cent of the city’s population swarmed the train station to greet them.
As the world champions stepped off the train, fireworks lit up the sky around the city to welcome the team.
A parade had to be delayed f due to the huge crowd that blocked city streets y and ground Edmonton to a halt.
For any team, this would have been the apex of their glory, but The Grads were just getting started.
Canadians now knew of the World Champions Grads were and the team found itself swimming in sponsorships and financial support.
This meant no more outdoor practices. No more blistering heat in the summer and no more icy cold winters.
Coach Percy Page could now train his team in the Edmonton Arena. The arena could seat 3,000 to 5,000 people and was a major step up.
For the next two years, while winning every championship they could in Alberta, the team advocated for the inclusion of basketball, for both men and women, as an official sport in the 1928 Summer Olympics with the help of the Canadian Olympic Committee but were denied by the International Olympic Committee.
The Grads wouldn’t be at the 1928 games in Amsterdam, but the Federation Sportive Internationale organized its own women’s basketball tour, and The Grads were invited to take part in the tournament giving them a chance to defend the world title they claimed four years earlier.
But first, the Grads first had to become Canadian champions and after winning the western Canada championship, they played a team from Halifax. the first ones from the Maritimes in the Canadian Championship.
They were about to get a baptism by fire.
That year the Grads, had already been challenged twice before for the Canadian Championship.
First by the Toronto Lakesides and then the University of British Columbia team.
Both teams were swatted aside with little effort.
Now it was Halifax’s turn.
Since The Grads held the title, it was up to the Halifax team to travel to Edmonton to go toe-to-toe with the champs.
Likely annoyed about having to defend their title against for the third time in six months, The Grads came out flying in the championship game on May 31, 1928.
They won the first game of the challenge, 64 to 6, but just before the game ended, the official scorer for the game passed out.
Maybe he didn’t drink enough water, or maybe he was overwhelmed by the sheer excellence of the Edmonton Grads.
The Edmonton Bulletin wrote,
“Outclassing their opponents in every second of what was a free-scoring loose basketball game, Commercial Graduates triumphed last night at the Arena in the first of a two-game series for the Canadian Championship.”
The score was so lopsided that one reporter said whoever paid for the Halifax team to travel to Edmonton should be reimbursed.
Halifax would have a chance to redeem themselves a couple of days later on June 2, hoping to at least do a bit better, even if they were unlikely to win the championship.
Those hopes were swiftly dashed when they lost 83 to 12.
The Grads had beaten the eastern team by a combined 129 points over two games and now as Canadian Champs they were headed to Europe to add some dip to their chip and once again become World Champions.
On their way to Europe, The Grad first stopped over in Hamilton to play a game against an All-Star team assembled from Hamilton and Toronto players to take on the legendary Edmonton team.
This was a bit of a homecoming for Percy Page, and he hoped his Grads were up to the challenge of the best of the best from those two cities.
The Grads trounced the All-Stars 61 to 14. The Hamilton newspaper stated,
“The West may not be able to produce strong football teams, but they can play basketball. Last night, the Edmonton Grads, champions of the world, taught the girls of Toronto and Hamilton much in the sport. The Westerners just ran rings around the all-star aggregation from Hamilton and Toronto.”
The Grads appeared unstoppable and the defending champs got off to an excellent start on July 19 when they beat a team from Paris 109 to 20 on their first game of the world championship.
Unchallenged and unmatched they won every single game by an average of 70 points per game and they never scored less than 63 points and kept their opponents to less than 20 points.
After defending their title, the world champions played and defeated a team from Milan in an exhibition game 68 to 2.
Italian dictator Mussolini presented the team with medals following the game.
The Grads truly had nothing left to prove. Their excellence as basketball legends was firmly established.
For the next few years, the team dominated as they played games throughout Alberta and Canada, while drawing huge crowds.
On May 5, 1930, 6,572 people the largest crowd for a basketball game in Canadian history, witnessed The Grads take on the Chicago Taylor Trunks.
The Trunks beat the Grads in the first game, 34-24, a tremendous achievement as in the entire history of the Underwood Trophy from 1923 to 1940 the Grads had only lost two games.
The loss wouldn’t be repeated because The Trunks, however, lost the second game.
The Grads were unbeatable and riding high but only a year later an unexpected tragedy almost derailed them.
In July 1931, the Grads were supposed to play an exhibition game against The Gradettes at the Exhibition Grandstand in Lloydminster, on the border with Saskatchewan about three hours east of Edmonton.
The grandstand was full of people, with standing room at a premium as residents from around the arrived anticipating a great game but they would soon be disappointed when they found out that due to wet conditions on the roads, the team would be delayed.
As the crowd grew impatient a plane flying around doing land office business provided some much-needed distraction but then…. horror.
The crowd gasped and screamed when the plane struck a power line and crashed near the grandstand.
Dozens of people ran over to see what happened, only to find the pilot and two local men dead inside. Despite the tragedy, when The Grads arrived seven hours after their intended start time, the crowd had recovered and were happy to see them play.
George K. Ross of Lloydminster said of the game,
“It was clearly seen why they were the best in the world. They were masters of their art. It was ability, not luck, that gained them such a worldwide reputation. No doubt, many aspiring basketball players who witnessed this event were inspired to become better players.”
The Grads were basketball’s very best, their record was incredible.
Over 16 years, the team won 348 of the 356 games played.
From 1922 to 1932, the team won every Alberta Championship and every Canadian Championship.
For the Dominion Championship in 1932, the Grads easily defeated the Windsor-Walkerville team in front of 3,000 fans 60-32.
The Windsor-Walkerville team was the best challenger to date from eastern Canada, and they still couldn’t beat The Grads.
A year later, the Canadian Basketball Association and the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States put on a series between The Grads and Teachers College team from Oklahoma, both were national champions.
In a surprise upset, The Grads suffered one of their few tournament losses.
They would avenge that in 1934, 1935 and 1936 when they defeated every American team they faced.
That level of domination is seldom matched and as the saying goes, it can be lonely at the top and that was made worst when the Grads’ character came into question..
Coach Percy Page demanded good sportsmanship from his players regardless of the outcome, so he was shocked to hear that on June 7, 1933, Coach S.F. Babb of the Durant Cardinals accused The Grads of insulting their American opponents as they left the floor making it necessary for him to ask for police protection for his team.
In Edmonton, insulting the character of The Grads was tantamount to treason.
The Edmonton Journal wrote,
“No other sporting even in years has created such a furor as what the citizens believe to be totally unwarranted statements of Coach Babb with respect to the game and the Edmonton Grads whose reputation for good sportsmanship extends throughout the athletic world.”
In a letter to the Edmonton Bulletin, Percy Page wrote,
“I went over to the visitor’s section and extended to Mr. Babb my heartiest congratulations on the success of his team. We shook hands and he said nothing with respect to any unseemly actions on the part of spectators.”
On July 3, 1933, the accusations of Coach Babb were ruled to be unfounded, and The Grads were cleared of any unsportsmanlike behaviour much to the delight of their Canadian fans.
And joy is something that everyone needed during the Great Depression.
Throughout the 1930s people struggled to survive under difficult conditions brought on by drought and a poor economy.
The Edmonton Grads gave people something fun and exciting and team made sure to repay that devotion with continued excellence on the court.
In 1935, The Grads won their 12th straight championship but there were signs that the rest of the Canadian field was catching up.
Windsor-Walkerville once again challenged The Grads and this time it wasn’t a complete blowout, Edmonton won 44 to 31. A score differential much smaller than they were used to.
They were still dominating but other teams were inching closer.
On April 30, 1935, they defeated the Saskatoon Commercial Grads, who were the top team in Saskatchewan, 116 to 15.
The Saskatoon Star Phoenix wrote,
“The floor work of the Albertans was a treat to watch and the fans who took the trouble to attend the exhibition got a real thrill in the last quarter when the Page-coached outfit really turned on the heat with a neat passing exhibition.”
The team was so good that in 1936, the inventor of basketball James Naismith, wrote them a letter stating,
“You are not only an inspiration to basketball players throughout the world, but a model of all girls’ teams. Your attitude and success have been a source of gratification to me in illustrating the possibilities of the game in the development of the highest type of womanhood.”
In 1938, team captain Noel MacDonald was named the best female athlete in Canada for her efforts in helping The Grads win yet another Canadian Championship.
Sadly, every sport dynasty eventually ends, from the LA Lakers, to the Chicago Bulls no team can win forever.
The Grads were no different; they were about to have their last dance.
(PAUSE MUSIC TRANSITION)
As the 1940s rolled around The Grads were at the top of the basketball world for 25 years.
The original players had long gone on to other lives, and now the team was made up players who had been children or not even a twinkle in the eye of their parents when the Grads were formed.
The feeder system from The Gradettes to The Grads had worked incredibly well and there was no real reason for their domination to end.
Except across the ocean in Europe a man seeking unlimited control and power put The Grad’s future in jeopardy when on 1 September 1939 he ordered the German invasion of Poland. And began the Second World War.
When the war broke out, the Royal Canadian Air Force took over the Edmonton Arena as a barracks for their pilots.
The country was all-in on the war effort and everything, including basketball, took a back seat to defeating the Germans not on a court but on the front lines of Europe.
Without a training center, the team had trouble finding places to practice.
The loss of the arena also made it harder for the Grads to host other basketball teams from elsewhere in Canada and the United States.
The war disrupted every facet of daily life including basketball and tournaments and championships which were cancelled.
The Grads were also a victim of their own success.
After decades of annihilating opponents, many teams didn’t want to play against them, and the novelty of wins wore off causing attendance numbers to decline.
Most people in Edmonton had seen The Grads play and were now on to other things.
In other cities, very few people wanted to see their home team crushed.
But the team still had loyal fans.
Ernest Edward Cappy Kidd, a resident of Calahoo near Edmonton, attended every single game, except for two when he was in the hospital.
When the team went to Wainwright in 1940 for one of their final games, the team’s biggest fans was there to greet them.
To thank Ernest Edward Cappy Kidd, for his years of support, the Grads gave him the honour of tossing the ball to open the exhibition game between Edmonton and a team from the United States.
It would be Kidd’s last game.
The Grads officially disbanded on June 6, 1940.
Just before the club ended, they voted to donate $100 to buy a trophy for the international senior women’s competition, $100 to the Edmonton Spitfire Fund and $500 to the City of Edmonton to thank it for all its support over the years.
The Edmonton City Council returned that gesture on Oct. 29, 1940.
They created a committee to look at erecting a permanent memorial in honour of the Grads who helped put the city on the sports map, decades before The Edmonton Oilers did the same.
They were the original GOATS or Greatest of All Time and you can see that by looking at the Grads’ stats.
Winning streaks were common for the Edmonton Grads.
They had a few, the first was f 147 games, while the second was 78 games long.
There were several perfect seasons when the team did not lose a single game.
From 1926 to 1938, the team won every Western Canadian Finals except in 1931 when no series was played.
In total, the team won 21 championship games by an average score of 52 to 28.
At the Canadian Championships, the team won almost every year from 1922 to 1940 and won by an average of 49 to 21.
They didn’t hold the championship trophy in 1929, 1931, 1936 and 1937. In 96 Canadian Exhibition Games they lost only two and won by an average of 63 to 16.
In 18 exhibition games against American teams, they only lost three.
Over the course of 25 years, only 38 women played for The Grads, which showed the incredible stability of the team’s core.
Margaret MacBurney served as the captain during the team’s longest winning streak of 182 games. She was a gifted player. In 1931 she made 61 free-throw baskets in a row during a game.
In all, the team travelled 201,000 kilometres and in 1926 had the challenging task of playing 11 nights in a row where they played 10 games in Winnipeg, Chicago, Warren, Cleveland, New York, Toronto, London and back again in Toronto.
They won every game.
The Grads often scored more than 50 points and only seven teams ever scored more than 50 points against the team.
Of the 522 games played in the team’s history they lost only 20.
There are some historians who believe the team played 400 games, but their winning record was still 95 per cent.
So, what happened to The Grads after the team disbanded?
The architect of the team, Coach Percy Page, was elected to the Alberta Legislature in 1940, serving until 1959.
During that time, he was the leader of the Opposition from 1945 to 1948 and in 1959, he was appointed the Lt. Governor of Alberta, a position he held until 1966.
He died in 1973 from complications brought on by pneumonia.
Today, J. Percy Page School in Edmonton is named after him.
Noel Macdonald had started her basketball career with the Edmonton Gradettes in 1931 before joining the Edmonton Grads in 1933 as a forward and centre before being promoted to captain in 1936. She was one of the greatest players ever produced by the team and became the all-time leading scorer with 1,874 points.
Percy Page called her the greatest player in the history of The Grads.
Once the team folded, two women’s basketball teams were formed: the Comets and the Starlets. Several of the Grads played for the Comets — including Noel MacDonald and she went on to compete for titles at the provincial, national and international level.
However, neither team never achieved the same success as the Grads.
When she retired from play, MacDonald went on to coach basketball in Estevan, Saskatchewan.
In 1978, she was inducted into the Canada Basketball Hall of Fame. She is one of only ten people to be inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame twice. First when she was awarded the Order of Sport, Canada’s highest sporting honour in 1971, and again as a member of the Edmonton Grads in 2017.
Sadly, she never got to experience the second as she died in 2008 in Edmonton.
After the Grads disbanded, the team’s alumni kept in touch and until 1987 they held a reunion every four years.
Kay MacBeth was the last living player, she died on July 23, 2018 at the age of 96.
Although they might not be as familiar as The Celtics, The Knicks or even The Seattle Storm, The Grads haven’t been forgotten since the team’s final dance.
In 1950, they were named the greatest basketball team in Canada for the first half of the 20th century.
Their success was designated as a National Historic Event in 1978, and the entire team was inducted into the Canada Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983.
The Edmonton Grads International Classic Tournament was established by Canada Basketball in 2014 and takes place every two years.
In 2015, a mural was dedicated to The Grads in Edmonton and in 2017, the team was a part of a Heritage Minute.
Lastly, one of the greatest honours of the modern age was bestowed upon The Grads on Nov. 9, 2019 when a Google Doodle was created to celebrate the team.
And today women’s basketball is bigger than ever, the NCAA March Madness final had an audience of 18.89 million people as they tuned in to watch Iowa’s Caitlin Clark be defeated by legendary Coach Dawn Staley’s South Carolina “Gamecocks”.
That game was the most watched basketball game (including the NBA) since 2019 and the most watched basketball game to air outside of prime time since the Fab Five played in the men’s Final Four in 1992.
As basketball legend Sue Bird has said, “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports.”
And we can’t wait to cheer them on when Canada gets its first WNBA team in 2026.
