Edmonton Grads - Record

Record

The team compiled a record of 502 wins and 20 losses between 1915 and 1940. The Grads won their first Canadian title in 1922 by defeating the Shamrocks from London, Ontario. The next year the Grads competed for the Underwood Trophy (provided by the Underwood Typewriter Company), their first international competition. The Grads faced the Cleveland Favorite-Knits, who were the reigning American (and world) champions. The Grads defeated the Favorite-Knits in a two game combined score match, 55 to 33. The Grads never relinquished either the Canadian Championship or the Underwood Trophy until the team disbanded in 1940.

In addition to dominating their sport in North America, the Grads also took on the best teams in Europe, ultimately defeating challengers in Paris, London, Amsterdam and Berlin. The Grads swept four consecutive Olympic Games from 1924 to 1936, winning all 27 Olympic matches they played and out scoring their opponents 1863 to 297. This achievement was unrecognized on the medal podium as women's basketball did not become an official Olympic sport until the 1976 summer games in Montreal.

Page's coaching philosophy emphasized the importance of physical conditioning and prohibited any performance-inhibiting activities such as smoking and drinking. As a result, his players often outlasted their exhausted opponents in particularly grueling matches. Page trained his girls to play as a unit and, above all, to take their sport seriously. "You must play basketball, think basketball and dream basketball," was his adage. Players were not allowed to marry. The reward for the unpaid players came through a chance to travel and see the world, a rare opportunity for single, unmarried women during the Depression. As a consequence the Grads were perennial provincial, national and continental champions.