Alex Karageorgos<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Labor Omnia Vincit: Hard work conquers all. This statement
\nrings true for the progression of girls athletics at North Toronto Collegiate
\nInstitute since the school opened its doors in 1912.<\/p>\n
During the early years of the school, intermural boys\u2019
\nsports were more prominent than girls\u2019. Although these intermural sporting activities
\nwere enjoyed by the student body, the girls\u2019 athletics movement had not taken
\nfull flight. This was due to poor athletic facilities and differentiated public
\nperception of the role of women, and girls, at the time.<\/p>\n
At the beginning of the 1920\u2019s, girls\u2019 sports were
\nofficially introduced and coached. Girls finally had the opportunity to
\nrepresent their school and wear the North Toronto colours of Red and Grey
\nproudly. The girls teams were extremely competitive, especially through the
\nsuccesses of the Girls\u2019 Basketball team as they went on to win several titles for
\nthe duration of the twenties.<\/p>\n
It is also important to note that inaugural year of the
\nGirls Athletic Association started in the twenties. Like then, today\u2019s mission
\nof the G.A.A. is to organize and encourage girls\u2019 sports.<\/p>\n
The opening of NTCI\u2019s new athletic field in October of 1931 brought substantiated excitement to the sporting sphere. When the
\nfield was being constructed, student athletes had to travel to Pear\u2019s Park, now
\nknown today as Eglinton Park, to practice. Stunning comparisons can be made
\nfrom the thirties as this trend appeared once again between the years 2008-2011
\nwhere students also had travel to Eglinton Park for their practices while the
\nold school was being torn down to make way for the new state-of-the-art playing
\nsurface. This field attributed to the appearance of soccer teams, a new facet
\nof sports at North Toronto.<\/p>\n
Academic prowess was a pivotal decider in
\nwhether or not girls would have the privilege to play for the school. These
\nacademic guidelines were a minimum of 60-percent on both Christmas and Easter
\nexams in order to participate in one major (varsity) and two minor (intermural)
\nsports teams.<\/p>\n
Girls\u2019 athletics blossomed after the Second World War when several teams were developed, including: archery, badminton, ping-pong, riding and tumbling. Also, athletically gifted girls were recognized with four different ranks of seniority with athletics. Girls achieved pins by playing for one team on a winning year, a pentagon crest for the second year, wings added to the said crest for the third year and the
\nservice crest for the fourth year.<\/p>\n
An issue of the Red and Grey (RAG) published in 1949 read: \u201cThere are enough different sports on-the-go that nearly every<\/em> girl is found A great addition to NTCI in the fifties was the new school pool that helped the girls, and boys, when it came to swimming for Phys. Ed and teams. Prior to the opening of the school pool, students swam at Northern SS and Allenby Junior Public School until 1957. Due to the old auditorium being transformed into the Boys\u2019 gym in 1956, the girls\u2019 primarily used the small gym on the second floor of the school.<\/p>\n An early form of Grade 9 Welcome Day was By the 1963-64 school year, the G.A.A. organized In the seventies, NTCI as a whole was The trend of growing girls\u2019 athletics Girls\u2019 athletics in the nineties were Trophies were won at a staggering rate in Due to the hard-work and dedication of Continuing the tradition of girl\u2019s athletics at North Toronto Collegiate Institute is running stronger than ever with a new school and new facilities which rings in a new era: the best has yet to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Alex Karageorgos Labor Omnia Vincit: Hard work conquers all. This statement rings true for the progression of girls athletics at North Toronto Collegiate Institute since the school opened its doors in 1912. During the early years of the school, … Continue reading
\nparticipating in at least one of them.\u201d The tides definitely turned with
\nregards to girls\u2019 sports when the fifties rolled around.<\/p>\n
\nformed by the G.A.A. through new students sharing stories with the senior girl
\nstudents while they partook in little games or underwent the Hall of Horrors<\/em> in and around the basement corridors. Girls also had their separate athletic banquet which
\nconsisted of the presentation of pins, crests, wings and the Female Athlete of
\nthe Year who was awarded the Ostrander Trophy.<\/p>\n
\ninterschool basketball and swimming leagues and competitions. A rewarding
\nproduct that came out of these early intermural activities was the four
\nchampionship success of the NTCI swim team, which consisted mostly of girl
\nswimmers. Later in the sixties, varsity volleyball and track and field became a
\nfacet in girls\u2019 sporting life. The influence of girls\u2019 athletics grew within
\nthe school but they still only received half of the recognition and publicity
\nthat the boys got in the sixties\u2019 pentagon yearbooks.<\/p>\n
\nrecognized for being an athletic powerhouse with several city championships and
\nOFSAA accomplishments. Unfortunately, great results by girls who ran in cross
\ncountry and track and field were overshadowed by the Senior Boys\u2019 Football Team
\ntwo successive TSSAA championships in 1976-77 and 1977-78.<\/p>\n
\ncontinued into the 1980\u2019s where the girls gym (better known as the small gym on
\nthe second floor) was renamed the upper gym and the boys gym was renamed the
\nlower gym, removing the gender titles associated with both gyms. The biggest
\ntriumph for girls\u2019 athletics at North Toronto was thanks in part to Student
\nCouncil of 1985-86 who gave the vying G.A.A. the same financial support as the
\nBoys\u2019 Athletic Association. In the coming decades, with more money at their
\ndisposal, the G.A.A. reached heights never seen before.<\/p>\n
\nexecuted with such cunning and panache as the G.A.A. promoted female leadership
\nconcerning girls\u2019 sports inside the hallways and outside school grounds. This
\nstarted off with pancake breakfasts, which still go on today, and the NT Leadership
\n2000 program which united 250 girls across 40 schools in Toronto. Leadership
\n2000 were co-organized by two female NT students: Heather Strupat and Jo Leech,
\nwho was also an avid writer and former Sports Editor for Graffiti in the
\nnineties.<\/p>\n
\nthe nineties with the ever-dominant Girls\u2019 Field Hockey and Girls\u2019 Hockey Team winning
\ncity championships with ease. Also, girls\u2019 badminton teams sent numerous
\nplayers to OFSAA. Both girls and boys sports in the nineties were plagued by
\nthe work-to-rule campaign which restricted teachers in coaching sports teams
\nand co-ordinating intermurals, putting a damper of fall sports, specifically in
\n1998.<\/p>\n
\nformer NT teacher Mr. Johnston, the new millennium and 2000\u2019s were the high
\ntimes for Girls\u2019 Field Hockey. Throughout the decade, the team travelled far
\nand wide to places like Ottawa, Bermuda and Cuba to compete in tournaments. In
\n2008, the Girls\u2019 Field Hockey Team clinched their third city championship in
\nfour years and headed to OFSAA for the fourth year running. Even today, Mr.
\nJohnston\u2019s winning attitude and passion for the game of field hockey has led
\nthe girls in the right direction.<\/p>\n