1950: Father L. Voisin
1954: Joe Zaleski
1955 :Joe Zaleski
1956: Joe Zaleski
1957: Torchy Pechet
1958: Vic Pruden
1959: Dave Jandrisch
1950:
1951:
1954:
1955:
1956:
1957:
1958:
1959:
In 1956, St. Paul's won the Greater Winnipeg Juvenile Championship, the Greater Winnipeg Midget Championship, and the Greater Winnipeg Bantam Championship.
In 1958, there were 159 students actively playing basketball - that's about half of the student population.
The following memory is from a basketball alumnus:
Joe "Black Magic" Zaleski was an excellent coach. He came to Winnipeg from Dayton, Ohio, to play quarterback from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. St. Paul's asked if he would teach science and coach athletics.
In science class, mr. Zaleski told us when he found out that he was coming to Winnipeg, he thought there were polar bears roaming the streets. It was quite a surprise for him to see that Winnipeg was more advanced.
My role with the team was very small. In other words, I rode the bench most of the time. However, in one of the play-offs Mr. Zaleski asked me to play. I got four points. I was so proud.
In the "Pre-classification" era interschool sports began to be loosely organized locally and regionally. Interested schools started to organize into leagues. In the decade between 1945-1955, the Physical Fitness and Recreation Division encouraged "cooperative effort in interscholastic athletics." It was this organization that sponsored the first provincial basketball tournament, which St. Paul's won, in 1951. The Physical Fitness Branch was discontinued in 1955.
Unlike today, the teams in the leagues could - and did - vary year to year. Although St. Paul Paulian continued to compete in the Private Schools League, they were eager to compete against other schools in the city league. The City league was very competitive and were becoming more organized. Divisions were starting to be developed so younger teams could fairly compete. St. Paul's wanted to be included in these new developments.
In 1950, St. Paul's application to be admitted into the newly formed bantam and midget city-wide basketball divisions were accepted. St. Paul's application to be admitted to the city's juvenile division was also approved. As a result, in 1951, the high school had competitive teams competing against schools across the city in the Juvenile, Bantam, and Midget divisions. In 1951, Juveniles were sixteen year-old players. According to The Crusader, 1951 is the first year St. Paul's Juvenile team played in the Winnipeg League. The Seniors, however, were still excluded from the city league, although St. Paul's also has the honour of winning the first recorded Provincial Championship in 1951.
The Senior high school team routinely won the Senior Private School league and often were the Greater Winnipeg Juvenile Champions as well. The Midgets also won the Greater Winnipeg Midget Championships. The Bantams followed suit winning the Greater Winnipeg Bantam League.
St. Paul's also had a very strong club program within the school. The school program consisted of teams within a grade level playing against each other. Competition was fierce and was often reported on in the school newspaper, the Crusader. In 1958 there were 159 active basketball players. To put that number is perspective, the school's high school population in 1958 was around 300 students.