Edited from an article that appeared in The Daily Colonist on Sunday, March 11, 1934.The GVSHOF is greatful for the use of some images from the collection of the BC Archives. Clicking on the image credit will take the viewer to the BC Archives site for further information.

Victoria's Basketball History

Basketball teams may come and go. Players flash onto the basketball scene, rush into public acclaim and pass. Sometimes overnight, yet, each team in its passing and each player in their swift flight, have left something indelibly carved into the pages of local sport. Interpreted in words, this "something" makes for the early history of basketball in Victoria. That early history culminated in a flash of glory in April 1933, when the Blue Ribbon basketball team won the coveted Montreal Sportsman's Cup emblematic of Victoria's first Canadian Basketball Championship.

Thread of Achievement

Each and every player, each and every team that ever tossed a ball through a hoop, has left a mark in the history of basketball in Victoria. A bright shining, thread of achievement, it weaves its way through the hands of the stalwart Blue Ribbon players, who were at the height of their career, back in the 1930's, to a small group of young athletes gathered in a room of the James Bay Athletic Association building on Belleville Street.

It was early in 1897, Carey Pope, who was later the secretary of the Victoria School Board, had just returned from a trip to Portland. He was full of enthusiasm about a new game he had witnessed down in the States. James Naismith, a young Canadian instructor at the YMCA, developed the game, which began in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1891. By 1896 it had found its way into Western United States and was called basketball.

Mr. Pope explained the rules of the game to the young athletes in great detail and suggested they take up the game. As with all new ideas, much cold water was thrown on the scheme, many voices were raised with the ancient plea, "It can't be done." Those very words may have been responsible for the introduction of basketball in Victoria, for when Mr. Pope heard them he became more determined that it would be played, regardless of the "croakers."

He gathered together some adventurous spirits, like himself, that included Charlie McNeill, and Louis Young. They bought a bundle of chicken wire and proceeded to cover the windows of the JBAA hall. Then they marked out the floor, put up two iron hoops, grabbed an old soccer football and began to play. It was not long before those that had knocked the idea were there to cheer and soon where trying the game for themselves. Within a few months most of the "Bays" members where having a fling at basketball and the enthusiasm spread beyond their clubhouse. Young men all over town were taking an interest and on open lots one would see lads trying to fire a ball through an elevated iron ring.

Game Makes Rapid Strides

With a spirit of competition creeping into the play, the game began to rapidly improve. The town lads formed teams and, with rivalry running high, it was only a short step to the formation of a league. This began in 1897 and it consisted of six teams - J.B.A.A., Wasps, Swifts, and Numbers 1,2 and 3 Companies of the 5th Regiment C.A.R. The Wasps and Swifts teams were from in town, with their headquarters in the Assembly Hall on Fort Street.

In those days the Regiment, stationed at the Drill Hall on Menzies Street, held a band concert in the hall every Saturday night. In conjunction with the concerts two basketball games were played. There was no seating so the spectators stood during the games and at the intermissions, while the band played, they promenaded around the hall. This arrangement held until 1908 and the town folk turned out in droves with between 1000 and 2000 fans on most Saturdays. They also backed their favourites and many a fight took place in the gallery while the players struggled on the court. At one 1905 playoff game a crowd near 5000 paid the 10 cents admission.

It was at this time the first international basketball game was held in Victoria. After the 1899 season a number of the top players joined together, under the J.B.A.A., colours to test their skill against a seasoned Seattle YMCA team. The match was played out-of-doors at the Caledonia Grounds on Niagara Street where a record crowd cheered on the local boys on to a narrow victory.

Era of Success

From 1900 to 1908 basketball flourished in Victoria during the winter months. Teams sprang up all over the city and competition was keen. Each district had a team and many had their own hall where young athletes practiced and teams developed. In the Fernwood area the Young Men's Athletic Association was formed and due to their efforts a small hall was built near the corner of Cook and Caledonia streets. That little hall turned out some great players and the "Fernwood's" were always a team to reckon with.

Out in Victoria West, the young basketballers practiced in what they called Fairall's Hall. It was just a big empty shed connected with the Fairall Bottling Works that was later the Silver Springs Brewery. When expansion of the brewery forced the boys out the Vic West Athletic Association built their own hall and played many a game within its rough walls.

The James Bay district athletes made use of their own hall and the Drill Hall while the in-town lads used the Assemble Hall and the old dirt floor Riding Academy on Yates Street.

Besides all the league and playoff fixtures international match-ups were common as visiting teams came from as far south as San Francisco. Then to wrap up the season there was a British Columbia series, which was a far cry from the later day Provincial championships. In the early days any team in B.C. had the right to challenge the titleholder, at any time, for the championship. It was a cruel test of a team's ability, for when a challenge was issued they had to play in order to hold onto their title. The titleholders had to be made of the stuff of giants in those hectic days. It is interesting to note that Victoria teams held that B.C. championship, continually from 1900 until 1908.

Many Shining Stars

During the first decade of basketball in Victoria, many teams' shot to fame and players became heroes almost over night. The JBAA squad of 1897 and 98 rightly are the first on the list with stars like Percy Daniels, Mike Finlayson, and Charlie McNeill. This team might have gone on winning championships but those were the days of the Yukon gold rush. Young men were hearing the siren call of gold finds and the basketball team's ranks were soon sadly depleted.

Vic West, with a roster that included Tom Crocker, McKay as well as Tom and George Andrews stepped into the 1899 spotlight when they claimed the City and B.C. intermediate titles. Then the Wasps, a young team captained by Percy Marchant, shot into the senior's limelight. Their line-up included two brothers, Charlie and Bill Fairall, fine athletes who remained in the sporting public eye for some years to come.

Next, came the Fernwood's and to them goes the honour of winning Victoria's first senior British Columbia basketball championship. Again, the Fairall boys along with Arthur Shotbolt, Bill Peden, Bob Dalby and Fred Jones were their stalwarts. For two years they took everything in their stride. After easily winning the City championship they challenged Nanaimo and defeated the B.C. title-holder. They faced teams from across the line and still they won building an enviable record that, for many years, the sporting citizens of Victoria looked on with admiration.

Victoria West where the next club to take their turn at the top. Again, on the new champions roster, appear the Fairall brother's names. It seems that wherever these two brilliant stars chose to throw the weight of their expert knowledge and skill, the championship title just naturally followed. Others on the West's team were Tom Crocker, Harry Monteith, Fred Baker and George Andrews, senior.

At the beginning of the 1905-06 season the 5th Regiment felt they didn't have enough material to field a team and withdrew from the league. Soon after, word came from Ottawa that the Drill Hall could not be used for basketball unless the soldiers had a team in the City league. For a time it seemed the game was to suffer a severe blow as there was no other hall large enough to hold the crowds that followed the game.

Situation Is Saved

To save the situation, Fred Baker and Charlie Fairall joined the Regiment. Bill Fairall and Tom Crocker were already band members and with Vince Grey they had a ready-made team, entered the league under the Fifth Regiment name and the Drill Hall remained open for league games. Again the Fairall name carried with it some subtle charm, for the Regiment team forged its way to the top, where it remained for the next two seasons, winning both the City and B.C. titles.

In 1908, the YMCA Northwest International League held the limelight and the Victoria YMCA team became the idol of the local basketball fans. The international circuit called for a strenuous schedule that saw the team play in Vancouver on a Monday night, Bellingham on Tuesday, Everett Wednesday, Seattle on Thursday and in Tacoma on Friday before returning home on Saturday. Each team did the loop and it was no wonder the Victoria team were idolized, when after the grueling league and a playoff against Vancouver' these local boys finished on top.

With that popular win a number of new players swept into fame. Bob Whyte, R. McKitrick, D. Campbell, J. Petticrew, Fred Carne, H. Roskamp, Mason and Johnny Peden were the talk of the town. Even in his early year's Bob Whyte was the most valuable man on the team. His tricky shooting brought shouts of admiration from the crowds and there is no doubt that his remarkable ability leads the Victoria 'Y' to the International League honours.

Five Starring Brothers

There was one other outstanding team of those days that was long remembered by the old-time basketball enthusiasts. It was not a registered league team --- and if it were, there likely would have been another championship story to tell. This was a team of five brothers; Bill, Tommy, Bob, Alex and Johnny Peden were all fine young athletes who played on different teams in different leagues and divisions. Once in a while they would get together to play a benefit game and splendid exhibitions they would be as all five were outstanding basketball players.

The next few years saw a lull in basketball activity. There were still some teams and a league of sorts but the thrill of the game seemed to have gone stale. The hoop game entered a second cycle and the long uphill grind almost looked as though it would prove too great. However, the city schools took up the game as part of their playground activities. Basketballs were supplied and courts laid out on the school grounds. Youngsters began getting a rough and ready idea of the hoop game that was soon introduced into the High School sports curriculum.

A prominent Vancouver businessman presented a cup known as the Thompson Cup, for yearly competition between the high schools of Victoria and Vancouver. Great interest was shown in these series and players who made the Thompson Cup team were indeed the school heroes. All this didn't appear to be very significant, but as events were to prove, this turned out to be a vital point in the life of Victoria basketball.

District Revival

In 1913, there was a distinct revival due to two factors. A new YMCA building had just been built at the corner of View and Blanchard streets and in it was a good size gym suitable for basketball games and a good number of spectators. The second factor was the formation of a Sunday School Basketball League. J.H. Knott, of Fairfield Methodist Church, was a prime mover in the formation of the league and he also presented a large challenge shield to be awarded in the Senior Men's Division winners. Games were scheduled at the YMCA but to many people the new league didn't mean very much. However, it soon proved to be of great interest and gained popularity almost over night. Every Protestant Sunday school in the city entered a senior team and in some cases two or three. The old City League was forgotten and in two seasons, 1913 and 1914, the senior Sunday School League flourished. The Congregational's team line-up of R.W. Crompton, A.H. Wilkerson, A. Hills, A.R. Hodges, H.G. Andrews and K. Wiseman were the first to win the shield in 1913. Metropolitans with Archie Wills, Art Aird, Mr. Knott, M. Harris, T. Plumb, G. Robinson and S. Cheeseman were 1914 winners and in 1915 Fairfields claimed the award with Alan Marwood and Percy McAdams staring on their roster. More players meant more teams and therefore an intermediate league, for the younger lads, was formed.

Basketball was well on it's way again and then came the war! The men enlisted and the Sunday school senior league was wiped out---but not before First Presbyterians captured the Knott Shield in 1916. A young team, captained by John Goldie, and with him Gordon McEachern, Wilber Dawson, Tommy Heyland, and Ted Hopkins, easily won it and then all enlisted in the 62nd Battery, CFA. They left Victoria for Camp Pettawawa and there they entered and won the Army Basketball title. Overseas in France they arranged games behind the lines whenever possible --- and invariably they won.

Schools Carry On

With the declaration of war, and the first dark years, basketball was down but not out. Now, public school basketball, started merely as a playground activity, proved to be a boon to basketball in Victoria. If it hadn't been for the keenness shown by the youngsters the game would have been finished. As it was, the intermediate and junior divisions continued to flourish but it was the seniors that had created the fan interest.

In 1916, through the efforts of J.G. Brown and Capt. George McGregor, the First Presbyterian Church built a gymnasium in the basement of their new church on Quadra Street. For the next ten years it was to be the training quarters for many fine players and teams. "First Pres" teams won many championships and became well known for their sportsmanship as well as prowess. Six of the first twelve teams named on the Knott Shield bear their name. As well as 1916, they also won in 1918 captained by Gordon Forbes, in 1922, 23 and 24 captained by Angus McKinnon and in 1925 with Bob Whyte as their captain.

In the new Victoria High School there was a gym that was claimed to be the biggest and best on the Pacific Coast. Emsley "Buck" Yeo was a young teacher, who was also a basketball coach of great ability. He turned out some splendid material and when the lads left school they sighed on with the Sunday School League teams. In this way the basketball leagues functioned strongly from 1916 until 1924 and along with them the YMCA operated a championship knockout competition with teams entered from all over Vancouver Island.

It was in that competition that the Huskies team became prominent. A squad made up of men who had played for the "Y" as far back as the International League days and included Cyril Baker, Tommy Nute, Bob Whyte and three Peden brothers. Some of them began playing before backboards were introduced and could swish the ball through the hoop consistently. They were a formidable aggregation of stars and for six seasons they walked all over their opposition.

An Outstanding Team

The one disappointment in the Huskies prime was that they failed to collect a British Columbia championship for Victoria. Each season they would travel to the competition in Vancouver only to be beaten out by one or two points. It was indicative of their fighting spirit that they always came back to fight it out again. The Huskies were without a doubt the top team in their era, and one of the three greatest Victoria basketball teams developed during the games first 30-years.

It wasn't until 1922 that the Huskies were headed by a team of young men from the First Presbyterian Sunday School who had learned their basketball skills under "Buck" Yeo at Vic High and perfecting them in the church gym. They over-took the veterans in a bitterly contested playoff series for the city championship. Included in their roster were, Art Boyd, Angus McKinnon, Cal Little, Art Webster and Norman Forbes.

In 1922, after the "First Pres" had downed the Huskies they claimed the B.C. championship by challenging and beating the Vancouver Towers. A dispute arose over that victory as the losers contended the season had ended before the game was played and therefore it could not be labeled an official play-off game. And for the following two seasons the Victoria champions, for one reason or another, were frozen out of contending for the B.C. honours.

In 1924, the Victoria officials made sure their B.C. affiliation fee was paid on time and accepted! The results of the B.C. series was looked forward to in both cities as the Canadian Basketball Association was making arrangements for a new Dominion Championship series to be held in the east. If everything went ahead as scheduled there was no doubt the B.C. champions would be going east. With the City champion, "First Pres" squad, properly entered Vancouver basketballers still tried to bluff the locals out by claiming their league to be far superior and they should go east without a playoff.

While all this was going on the "First Pres". Team, who had added Dave Foubister, Ed Breckenbridge and Ian Hastings to their line-up, were perfecting their uncanny combinations in the church gym and refusing to waiver their B.C. championship rights. Suddenly they received a telegram stating they were to be in Vancouver 24 hours later to play for the title. With the team together and ready to board the boat, a long distance phone call advised them that they would not be required to come. A few days later, a second telegram arrived with the same orders. This time they boarded the afternoon steamer, arrived in Vancouver in the evening and proceeded to the YMCA gym. Within a very short time they were out on the floor where they beat the Vancouver 'Y' basketball team by a score of 30 - 23. It was one of the greatest upsets experienced by a Mainland basketball team for many years. Victoria was to make it's first bid at a Canadian Basketball title.

Forced To Drop Out

Immediately the First Presbyterians began to complete arrangements to go east. They were to proceed to Raymond, Alberta, and play for the Western Canada title. If they were successful they would continue on to Toronto and play for the Dominion championship. The church squad worked frantically but time was too short. They couldn't complete all the arrangements in the time at their disposal and had to forgo their chance. There was no doubt that, given the backing, they would have made a good showing in Raymond and quite likely made the train trip to Toronto. They were a team far advanced of their time in both the skills and knowledge of basketball. To this team went the honour of being the first British Columbia Championship winners after a reorganized and controlled play-off format came into effect. Their name was the first Victoria team to be engraved on the Chesterfield Trophy emblematic of the senior British Columbia Championship.

The Game Goes On

During the next ten years, there were changes to the game. The Sunday School League was gradually superseded, although it continued on at the junior and intermediate levels. In the public schools there was a schedule of inter-school games played. Many of the younger teachers had played basketball and were now coaching their schools teams. In this way, interest in basketball was sustained and along with the Sunday school and YMCA programmes, they became the training grounds for a new growing senior Victoria City Basketball League.

At the beginning of the 1929-30-basketball season Victoria found the Sr. Men's 'A' division sadly depleted with only two teams intending to enter the fray. These where the famous Capitols team, which had been winning local and Island titles with great consistency, under various sponsorships, and the hard working, hard playing C.P.S. Lumber squad. To make the competition keener Ross 'Bud' Hocking, one of the city's younger athletes, who had played for both those clubs, decided to form a third team.

With Tommy Little, Joe Ross and Tolmie Watcher, three experienced ball tossers as a nucleus, Hocking soon gathered together his other players. They included Bill White, Lloyd Jones, Chuck Chapman, who had just finished high school, and Stan Moore, a veteran of many grueling hoop struggles. Robert Peden, an outstanding basketball player in older days, was willing to back these lads and so the new team entered the league under the Peden Bros. banner. Willing and eager, they played aggressive ball and although the Capitols once again won the championship, Peden's gave them a number of close battles before the final game of the season was played.

For three years these lads struggled and fought their way upward, first under the name of Peden's and later as the Commercials. They began to win City and Island championships but always, through inexperience and lack of management, fell short of the British Columbia honors. The season of 1932-33 found them undecided whether to stick together and try again or not. Here it was that fate stepped in and took a hand, through the backing of one of the largest manufacturing companies in Canada, this team of young athletes was given another chance

The Drive for Honors

J.A. Barnwell, the local representative of the Blue Ribbon Tea Company of Canada, had always been interested in basketball. He had watched; the efforts of this team of young lads and in 1932 through his representations, the company decided to give them the backing they needed to make them into a smooth functioning championship team. They were to play under the name of the Blue Ribbons and 'Barney' Barnwell proved himself a man of untiring energy and great initiative. He arranged practices, brought teams in to give the squad experience and scheduled out-of-town games for them to show they were of championship caliber.

The actual coaching was left in the capable hands of Ernie Cook, a teacher at Victoria High School, and a man who well understood sport psychology and team play. This time there were no mistakes, no errors in judgment. Within that year of splendid management and backing, the Blue Ribbons were never headed. They won the city title with ease, then the Island, B.C., Western Canadian over the Raymond, Alberta Jacks and finally took the famed Windsor-Walkerville team of Ontario into camp for the Dominion championship.

Four years to build a Canadian championship team! Four years of hard work and dedication plus some judicious management. Before those four seasons, there were thirty-eight years of Victoria basketball tradition of hopes and disappointments, records of teams that strived and lost and came back to try again. Thirty-eight years of mistakes to be rectified, new ideas tried and then a Canadian Championship!

At the high school, too, the work went on as Claude Campbell had taken over the coaching chore. He had made an intensive study of basketball and in his ten years had coached five players who were later members of the 1933-1934 Blue Ribbons as they begin a season in defense of their Canadian Basketball title. The high school graduates were Art Chapman, Alex McKeachie, Doug Peden, Muzz and Lynn Patrick.

Of the originals who started back in 1929, only three; Tom Little, Art Ross and Chuck Chapman were in the line-up when they won the National honours in 1933. The new members were, Johnny Craig, Albert Martin, George Robertson, Jack Caddell, Al Imrie and Tommy Forbes .

Watch for the Blue Ribbons - Dominoes Story. Victoria's Greatest Basketball Years 1933 to 1946