For a team that won just two games in its debut season in the B.C. inter-city league, it didn't take long for the Victoria Rawlings to gel as a unit. Led by Mary Coutts and newcomer Dianne Doyle, the club posted a major turnaround in year two, sweeping league, B.C. and Canadian championship honours in 1967-68. They say repeating as a champion is always tougher, and the Victoria ladies, renamed the Maplettes, did so despite having only four returning players and a new coach, Jack Lusk. After an up-and-down season they peaked at the right time, earning second place with a key win over UVic, then dispatching the Vikettes for the league crown. After rolling to the B.C. title, Victoria won its second national banner on home court. Two seasons later the Maplettes were a powerhouse, losing just one regular season game and representing B.C. at the 1971 Canada Winter Games. While they lost the gold to Ontario, they avenged the loss with a win in that year's Canadian final.

Having built a strong foundation as a player in both basketball and tennis, Howard Tooby was a natural coach who became a mentor to many Victoria athletes. On the hardwood, he scored his first title of note in 1950, when his Tillicum Athletics won the B.C. intermediate men's championship. Showing he could get the most out of diverse groups, his C&C Taxi junior women (1953) and Scott and Peden junior men (1955) captured Canadian crowns. Tooby was equally adept at the grassroots, coaching a generation of children in the First United Church program. On the tennis court, he complemented an impressive local playing career by earning a solid reputation as an instructor. Starting at the Oak Bay club, and later being named inter-municipal tennis co-ordinator with Oak Bay's Gordon Hartley, Tooby became a fixture in spring and summer clinics, teaching the game's basics and finer points to scores of area youngsters and adults.