Noel MacDonald

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Noel MacDonald
Noel MacDonald.jpg
Personal information
Born(1915-01-23)23 January 1915
Mortlach, Saskatchewan
Died13 May 2008(2008-05-13) (aged 93)
Edmonton, Alberta
Listed height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Career information
Playing career1931–1939
PositionCaptain
Career history
1931-33Edmonton Gradettes
1933-39Edmonton Grads
Career statistics
Points per game13.8
Points1,874

Noel Marguerite Robertson (née MacDonald; January 23, 1915 – May 13, 2008) was a basketball player for the Edmonton Grads. In 1938, MacDonald was awarded the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award and Velma Springstead Trophy as the best Canadian female athlete of the year. She was inducted into the Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1971 and Canada Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978.

Early life and education[]

On January 23, 1915, Noel MacDonald was born in Mortlach, Saskatchewan. She went to school in Moose Jaw before moving with her family to Edmonton, Alberta for high school.[1] After graduating from , MacDonald studied business at .[2]

Career[]

MacDonald started her basketball career with the Edmonton Gradettes in 1931 before joining the Edmonton Grads in 1933.[2] On the Grads, she played as a forward and centre before being promoted to captain in 1936.[3] After her promotion to captain, MacDonald and her teammates won a demonstration basketball tournament at the 1936 Summer Olympics. MacDonald retired from the Grads in 1939 with a points per game average of 13.8 and an all-time Grads best of 1,874 points.[4] After her retirement, MacDonald became a basketball coach in Estevan, Saskatchewan and a secretary in Libya.[5]

Awards and achievements[]

In 1938, MacDonald won the Velma Springstead Trophy for best female athlete of Canada.[5] When MacDonald won the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award the same year, she became the first and only woman to receive the award for women's basketball.[6] In 1944, she was named by her former coach Percy Page as the best player in the history of the Edmonton Grads.[7]

MacDonald has been inducted in the Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1971[8] and the Canada Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978.[9]

Personal life[]

In 1939, MacDonald married , a former hockey player turned oil businessman and had two children together.[5]

Death[]

On May 13, 2008, MacDonald died from Alzheimer's disease in Edmonton, Alberta.[10]

References[]

  1. ^ Mlazgar, Brian; Stoffel, Holden, eds. (2007). Saskatchewan Sports: Lives Past and Present. University of Regina Press. p. 112. ISBN 978-0889771673. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  2. ^ a b Hall 2011, p. 207.
  3. ^ Hall, M. Ann (2011). The Grads Are Playing Tonight!: The Story of the Edmonton Commercial Graduates Basketball Club. University of Alberta. pp. 207–08. ISBN 978-0888646026.
  4. ^ Gerein, Keith (15 May 2008). "Edmonton Grad was an icon in her day". Edmonton Journal. p. C2. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  5. ^ a b c Chaput, John (20 May 2008). "MacDonald was at top of Grads' class". Edmonton Journal. pp. B1–B2. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  6. ^ Daly, Brian I. (2013). Canada's Other Game: Basketball from Naismith to Nash. Dundurn Press. p. 66. ISBN 978-1459706347. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  7. ^ Moher, Stan (11 April 1944). "Noel MacDonald Named as Greatest All-Time Grad". Edmonton Journal. p. 7. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  8. ^ "Canada's Sport Hall of Fame". Sportshall.ca. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  9. ^ "Hall of Fame". basketball.ca. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  10. ^ "Obituaries". Arizona Republic. 18 May 2008. p. 36. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
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