Winners: Noel MacDonald, Basketball

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Noel MacDonald with a basketball

Noel MacDonald posing in her Team Canada basketball uniform.
Date: 1938
Collection:Canada's Sports Hall of Fame

1938 - Feature Story

The Edmonton Grads should be considered one of the greatest of all teams in Canadian sports history. The final totals might well be locked away in some dusty files somewhere, but the accepted career totals read 502 wins and 20 losses. The pinnacle might have been reached in 1938, behind captain and centre Noel MacDonald, the team’s career leading scorer, who averaged 15.7 points a game. The jump ball after every basket had been abandoned in 1938, and that instant possession suited the Grads’ fast-break style perfectly. With MacDonald and her superb passing skills leading the way, the Grads again won the Underwood International Series by defeating Chicago and then successfully defended challenges against Cleveland, Canton and Wichita. Four times they went to the Olympic Games when women’s basketball was a demonstration sport, and they won all 27 games they played there.

Career Highlights

  • 1971 Inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame
  • 1939 Retired as the team’s all-time leading scorer
  • 1938 Bobbie Rosenfeld Award (Canada’s female athlete of the year)
  • 1936 FSFI Exhibition winner in conjunction with the Olympic Games in Berlin
  • 1933-1939 Canadian women’s basketball championships (did not compete in 1936)
Noel MacDonald’s shorts

Shorts worn by Noel MacDonald while she was a member of the Edmonton Grads.
Date: 1930’s
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame

a photograph of Noel MacDonald’s basketball jersey

Basketball jersey worn by Noel MacDonald while she was a member of the Edmonton Grads.
Date: 1930’s
Collection: Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame

Noel MacDonald’s warm-up jacket

Warm-up jacket worn by Noel MacDonald while she was a member of the Edmonton Grads.
Date: 1930’s
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame

Noel MacDonald’s warm-up pants

Warm-up pants worn by Noel MacDonald while she was a member of the Edmonton Grads.
Date: 1930’s
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame

Noel MacDonald’s photograph

Portrait of Noel MacDonald.
Date: 1930’s
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame

Noel MacDonald’s Team Canada basketball jersey

Team Canada basketball jersey worn by Noel MacDonald.
Date: 1930’s
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame

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