W. R. Granger

Granger and the QAHA were defendants in a court case that challenged the denial of an amateur registration card to a player who participated in semi-professional baseball prior to reaching the age of majority.

[1][3] A. O. Granger had Scottish heritage, and served as the private secretary to General William Tecumseh Sherman during the American Civil War, then became an industrialist in the United States and Canada.

[3][4] W. R. Granger married Ida Glassford with whom he had two daughters,[5] and became a naturalized Canadian citizen after he moved to Montreal in autumn 1892.

[16] Granger was elected to the CWA board of directors in February 1899,[17] in advance of Montreal hosting the 1899 World's Meet at Queen's Park.

[18] Granger was elected to the Montreal AAA Lawn Bowling Club committee in November 1909,[19] and was the skip of his own rink throughout the 1910s and 1920s.

[29] Under his leadership, the PQLBA began hosting an open-competition tournament in 1920, with divisions for singles and doubles welcomed from all lawn bowling clubs in Canada.

[31] Later in the same year, he was delegated to represent the association's interests at the meetings for the Quebec branch of the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada (AAU of C).

[40] The Gazette credited Granger for being instrumental in founding the QAHA, fighting to maintain amateurism and for allowing hockey to thrive in Quebec.

[42] The Montreal City Amateur Hockey League admitted three new clubs and scheduled its games and practices at the newly constructed Mount Royal Arena.

[46] In May 1920, Granger helped arrange a welcome home reception in Montreal for the Winnipeg Falcons who won the gold medal representing Canada in ice hockey at the 1920 Summer Olympics.

Justice Louis Coderre presided over the case, and felt it was unreasonable that a boy who wanted to play a game would forfeit amateur status forever in any sport, not just ice hockey.

[51][52] Dufresne testified that he was young and inexperienced at the time, did not know that he was playing with professionals, and that the compensation given to him had not covered his travel expenses to the games.

Granger and the QAHA registration committee agreed to give Dufresne a fresh start and issued him an amateur card.

Granger welcomed recommendations from members of the association and sought to have the constitution and registration forms printed in both English and French.

[56] Commercial leagues in Montreal gave Granger a vote of confidence and agreed that professionals in another sport should be excluded from amateur hockey.

He recommended that branches of the CAHA update their by-laws to give executives the necessary to powers to enforce regulations, investigate amateur status, to charge service fees registration and transfers, and have access to financial statements from teams and rinks to collect a portion of gate receipts and assist weaker teams by revenue sharing.

He felt that teams should be controlled by a public athletic organization instead of an individual, and that a CAHA branch should associate itself with men who would uphold the principles of amateurism.

[58] Granger called a meeting of CAHA branch presidents in October 1921, to discuss his recommendations and the findings of the independent commission.

[59] The CAHA empowered the president to conduct votes by mail or telegraph as necessary, permitted access to teams' financial statements, and established a national registration committee with W. A. Hewitt as the registrar.

[60] As of the 1922–23 season, the CAHA enforced a deadline of August 1 to establish residency where a player wanted to join a local team.

[62] At the QAHA general meeting in December 1921, Granger recommended revisions to the constitution to improve finances and ensure amateur player registrations, and retired as president because he held the same position with the CAHA.

Discussion ensued at the CAHA annual meeting being hosted in Toronto at the same time as the series, and a vote of the branch presidents confirmed that the practice of one referee each from Eastern and Western Canada should be used.

[76] A beauty pageant became part of the Winter Carnival, and Granger was one the judges to choose Montreal's contestant to compete for the Miss Canada title.

[77] He was elected president of the association in June 1924, and oversaw a campaign during the summer to promote winter sports to American tourists.

Black and white of a middle-aged man and woman. The man has dark hair, is seated in an arm chair, wearing a dark-colored suit jacket, light-colored pants, white dress shirt and black bowtie. The woman is standing behind and to the side of the chair, wearing a full-length white dress with a dark-colored belt, and dark hair braided into two ponytails.
Granger's parents
Photo of a covered wooden grandstand beside an oval track of dirt
Queen's Park bicycle track c. 1899
Postcard image of the building's exterior clad in red bricks with white trim around the doors and windows
Montreal AAA clubhouse c. 1913
Hockey players on the ice surrounded by spectators
Ice hockey at Victoria Rink
Exterior of the arena's entrance with people arriving by horse-drawn carriages and on foot
Mount Royal Arena
Group photo of team dressed in suits on the deck of an ocean liner
Winnipeg Falcons en route to the 1920 Olympics
Silver bowl trophy with two large handles, mounted on a black plinth
The Allan Cup was the championship trophy for amateur senior ice hockey overseen by the CAHA.
Black and white photo of a middle-aged man in a suit and tie
W. A. Hewitt
Black and white photo of a middle-aged man wearing eyeglasses, and a white high-collar dress shirt
Granger c. 1922
Exterior of building constructed similarly to a Scottish castle in Tudor Revival architecture
Westmount City Hall