Enjoy another edition of Developing Athletes: St. Catharines Youngsters on Film, a companion blog series to our exhibition of the same name on display in the Lockview Lounge at the St. Catharines Museum, June 2026-July 2028.

The St. Catharines Grads, 1938

The St. Catharines Grads were formed in the early 1920s from members of the very popular St. Catharines Church Basketball Association league and graduates (by 1928 known as “The Grads”) from St. Catharines Collegiate. The team’s first big win was at the Ontario Basketball Championship in 1924. The team was managed by familiar names like Harry Carmichael and Touch Woods who managed several other teams across multiple sports.

Photographed in the gymnasium of the old Queen Street YMCA are members of the 1938 team, left to right: “Monk” Morden, “Deuce” Cambray, Cec Ward, Don Storin, “Pooch” Hillesheim, and “Lefty” Haine.

Adrian Petry is a public historian, Visitor Services Coordinator, and curator of the Developing Athletes exhibition.