Thank you to the Manitoba Basketball Hall of Fame and Ross Wedlake. This summary was written with material supplied by Ross including a paper entitled "History of Basketball in Manitoba (1891-1959)" by Lori A. Johnson dated May 23, 1978.
The history of basketball in Manitoba is entwined with the history of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA). In fact, the creator of basketball, Dr. James A. Naismith, joined the YMCA in Springfield Massachusetts in 1891 as a physical education instructor.
In Springfield, he was asked to invent a new indoor game that could be played between the football and baseball seasons because the students were bored with the calisthenics that were routinely performed in the winter months. The criteria was simple. The game needed to be played indoors, must be physically exhausting, and interesting enough to keep the students engaged.
Winnipeg’s YMCA was organized in 1879 making Winnipeg one of the first Canadian cities to have a YMCA. In 1901, the YMCA moved into its own building at Portage Avenue and Smith Street. This building also housed Canada’s first indoor gymnasium and swimming pool. The YMCA quickly became popular for young men because the association was very successful at organizing sporting events and leagues including the summer sports of football and baseball.
Interestingly, basketball did not catch on as quickly in Canada as it did in the United States. Lori A. Johnson notes in "History of Basketball in Manitoba" that hockey, Canada’s national sport, held the hearts and minds of young aspiring athletes and the idea of spending winter months inside did not hold the same appeal as it did elsewhere.
The first known game of basketball in Winnipeg was played in November, 1900 by members of the 90th Troop. From this foundation came the Military League. In 1903 the YMCA formed the YMCA League with only four teams: the Footballers, Upper Crusters, Wellingtons, and Sailors. The winner of this league would play the winner of the Military League for an unofficial city championship. The players on these early teams were adults, although there does not appear to be any age restrictions at the time.
The popularity of basketball grew with the addition of more teams and, as a result the creation of different divisions based on ability levels. 1909 saw the formation of a junior league which consisted of players as young as 15.
Until 1911, the YMCA was the bastion of basketball in the province. In 1911, however, the creation of the Sunday School Boy’s League brought basketball out of the YMCA and into the basements of churches across Winnipeg.
Unfortunately, World War I ended all league play. The first post-War session began in 1919 in a new YMCA building on Vaughan.
The Manitoba Amateur Basketball Association was formed in 1926 – the same year as St. Paul’s High School.