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History of the A's |
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The Epic Battles With Brantford |
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The
three seasons of 1902, 1903 and 1904 were significant for the St.
Catharines Athletics as the team was engaged in a hotly contested rivalry
with the lacrosse club from Brantford. The red-shirted Brantford team was
committed to capturing the new Minto Cup trophy and would bring in some of
the best talent available to strengthen their squad. The Brantford-St.
Kitts rivalry succeeded in invigorating the enthusiasm for lacrosse
and this period was long remembered for some of the most passionate lacrosse seen in
both cities. Despite
a string of championship teams for the Athletics from 1905 to 1912, a
Standard reporter would echo the sentiments of many when he wrote in 1913,
“one has almost to sigh for the good old days when the crack
Brantford and St. Kitts teams would line up to the applause of thousands
of spectators, and the good old light and dark blue would triumph over
their opponents, hats and coats went in the air and the players would be
carried off the field to the sound of maddening cheers—those days are
gone and so are the players.” The Athletics scrapbook for this era includes:
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