Sport & Culture

In July 1949, the Saskatoon Ahepas became the Dominion Football League’s (DFA) provincial soccer champions for Saskatchewan. The team was sponsored by the local chapter of an international Greek fraternal organization, the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (Order of AHEPA). As Saskatchewan’s provincial champions, the Saskatoon Ahepas earned the right to play Alberta’s provincial champion, the Edmonton Legion, in a best-of-three games series. The Ahepas were defeated by the Edmonton team. Despite their loss, the story of the Saskatoon Ahepas is remarkable because the team had only been organized to play within the DFA the year before becoming Saskatchewan’s champions. While the Ahepas were often referred to as a “Greek soccer team”, most of its players did not have Greek heritage.

During their first season in 1948, the team lost more games than it won. However, by the end of the following season, the Ahepas were described by the Star-Phoenix as “a star-studded band of city league football players playing under a Greek name”. They had undertaken a “complete reorganization”, attracting strong players including three brothers – Johnny, Billy, and Jim Hayes who were recent immigrants from Ireland – and the Gill Brothers – Porky and Bob. George Golf was the team’s coach, Ted Gardener was the team’s manager, and Spero Leakos was the athletic director.

The team achieved a reputation as a “young, hustling club”. The Star Phoenix reported that during the regular season of play, the Ahepas out-scored their opponents – 38 goals against opponents to seven goals against Ahepa. They won the right to represent northern Saskatchewan in the provincial Dominion Football Association finals by beating the Army, Navy, and Air Force Rangers in three straight games. Before playing against the southern Saskatchewan representatives, the Regina Nationals, for the provincial championship, the Star-Phoenix reported that “most Second Avenue restaurateurs [were] backing the Ahepas” and speculated that if the Ahepas were victorious, “the celebration may call for ‘dinners on the house’ up and down Saskatoon’s main drag” (Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, June 28, 1949).

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, July 2, 1949, p. 15.

The team played a best two-out-of-three-game series against the Edmonton Legion in July 1949 for the right to play British Columbia’s provincial champs. Edmonton had physically heavier and taller players than Saskatoon’s. The first game was played after a heavy downpour. Edmonton won the first game, 3-0. For the second game, the field was still muddy from the previous day’s rainstorm. Despite a more disciplined style of play by Edmonton, the Ahepas were able to hold the score to a 1-1 tie and therefore, forced the third game. The third game, on July 26, was described by the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix as “rough-and-ready” play. The final score was 5-3 for Edmonton who thereby became the Saskatchewan-Alberta DFA champions.

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, Jully 22, 1949, p. 13

Despite their loss against Edmonton, an informal celebration of the Ahepa’s Saskatchewan championship was held at the Commodore Café in February 1950. Saskatchewan Football Association medals, as well as sweaters and crests in the team’s blue and white colours, were given to each player.

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, July 22, 1949, p. 13.

For the 1950 season, the Ahepas joined five other teams (the Macs, Saskatoon Light Infrantry, Saskatoon Legion, and CNR) for soccer play under the Saskatoon Football League banner. However, in June, the Ahepas amalgamated with the Macs; the new team would continue to be known as the Ahepas. The team’s elected officers consisted of Ted Gardiner (honorary president), Harry Snelling (president; ), George Golf (Secretary), Bobby Reid (trainer and coach), Paul Rendek (equipment manager), Jimmy Blakely (captain) and Irish Hayes (vice-captain). Snelling was formerly with the Macs and took over as president on the understanding, according to a Star-Phoenix report, that “he would run the club without interference from anyone”. The Ahepas were back in play for the rest of the season. They lost most of their games, except for a few ties. The also lost to the CNR team in the best-of-three-games semi-finals to represent northern Saskatchewan in the provincial D.F.A. playdowns.

The Ahepas participated in the 1951 soccer season with three new star players – halfbacks Jubio Rinaldi and Gustave Ius and goalie Costas Chrones. Scotty Reid, the Ahepas coach, and trainer, spoke of the diverse backgrounds of his players: “one Irishman, two Greeks, two Americans, two Italians, one Englishman, and the balance, boys that were born in this country”.

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, June 16, 1951, p. 16.

In 1951, the Ahepas’ play had become more spirited and aggressive, particularly when their opponents were the Saskatoon Legion. The Ahepas had by early June taken the lead in Saskatoon Senior Soccer League play and were determined to defeat the previous year’s champions. The Star-Phoenix reported that in a game on July 6 involving the Ahepas and the Saskatoon Legion (which the former won 1-0), the play was “exciting” with “breakaways, shots on goal, and unfortunately, fights, all through the contest”. Later that month, in another game against the Legion which ended in a 0-0 tie, two Ahepas players were ejected from the game for fighting “as the game threatened to get out of hand”. Then, in August, the Ahepas defaulted to the Legion after only 15 minutes of play by walking off the field in protest of a penalty they received from the referee. The Ahepas’ manager, George Golf, announced that his team would not compete during the remainder of the season in protest of the referee’s action.

For the 1952 season, the Ahepas amalgamated with the Saskatoon Light Infrantry (SLI) team to form the SLI-Ahepas, also referred to as the Combines. Costa Chrones continued to be in goal for this team. New players included recently-arrived Bob Burns and Harry Pearson who played soccer with one of England’s top amateur teams. The Saskatoon Soccer League consisted of three teams in 1952: the Thistles, the SLI-Ahepas, and the RCAF. The Thistles and SLI-Ahepas were tied at the top of the league standings before the northern Saskatchewan DFA playdowns. However, the Combines lost this series to the Thistles, which the Star-Phoenix described as “too good for the often erratic Combines”.

The Ahepas did not participate in the 1953 season of the Saskatoon Soccer League. The brief existence of the Saskatoon Ahepas had come to an end.

Researched by Ken Pontikes, July 2022
Sources: Saskatoon Star-Phoenix (several editions).

When he lived in Weyburn, James Chrones actively supported semi-pro baseball and junior hockey. He moved to Saskatoon in 1930 (1929?) and continued his interest in softball and baseball by sponsoring women’s and men’s teams.

In 1950, James and his son Jack entered a financial arrangement with the Bentley brothers (Bev, Doug, Max, Reg, and Roy) of Delisle. The Bentleys were well-known hockey players, but in the off-season, they were also baseball players. Under the arrangement with the Chrones family, the Delisle team was initially renamed the Delisle Gems and played in the Northern Saskatchewan Senior Baseball League. By 1952, the team was known as the Saskatoon Gems.

James Chrones, and his son Jack, celebrate the baseball ownership arrangement with the Bentley family.
Left to right: Max Bentley, Reg Bentley, Doug Bentley, James Chrones, Roy Bentley, Bev Bentley, and Jack Chrones.
Source: Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, May 10, 1950, p. 25

By the mid-1950s, the team was owned by the Saskatoon Gems Baseball Club and played in the Western Canadian Baseball League. James Chrones and Spero Leakos were among 30 shareholders who had committed to covering the team’s annual operating deficits. In 1957 for example, the team incurred a yearend deficit which required each director to personally pay $240 to cover the shortfall.

A tray of money was collected from team shareholders (at $250 each) to cover the 1957 losses of the Saskatoon Gems Baseball Club.
Left to right: Bill Horborenko, Jim Chrones, and Wilf Johnston
Source: Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, November 13, 1957, p. 19.

In 1958, the Leakos family took over ownership of the Saskatoon Gems; Spero Leakos became the team’s manager and coach. The team’s name was changed to Saskatoon Commodores.

The Leakos family owners of the Saskatoon Commodores
Left to right: Spero Leakos (general manager), Steve Leakos (president), and Jimmy Danabassis (secretary)
Source: Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, June 9, 1958, p. 15.

Spero’s teams mostly consisted of young American college players, who mentored a few Saskatchewan players – most notably, Terry Puhl from Melville who was later recruited by and played for the Houston Astros from 1977 to 1990. According to Spero, major league baseball scouts paid particular attention to the young talent that he recruited for the Saskatoon Commodores:

“The major league teams used to send kids here because we played 72 games and it was a major league-type schedule. In other words, with that type of schedule, they could assess pretty well if a kid had major-league potential. There is no question that this was a stepping stone to the majors. You could see it was major league talent you were looking at every day” (Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, September 11, 1982, p. F2).

Spero considered the 1961 Commodores to be his best team. The team lost only eight games that year and nine of the ten spots on the all-star teams were secured by Commodores’ players. Five players from that team later played in major league teams – catcher John Boccabella (Chicago Cubs, Montreal Expos, and San Francisco Giants), shortstop Ernie Fazio (Houston Astros and Kansas City Royals), pitcher Dan Schneider (Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, and Houston Astros), infielder Darrell Sutherland (New York Mets and Cleveland Indians), and infielder Tim Cullen (Washington Senators).

The Saskatoon Commodores played in the Western Canada League in 1963 when Spero moved the team to Medicine Hat. The team returned to Saskatoon in 1964 and played in the Northern Saskatchewan League and the Southern League until 1972, after which the team ceased operations.

Researched by Ken Pontikes, June 2, 2024.

The Spartans Basketball Team was one of six teams which competed in the Saskatoon YMCA House Basketball League during the 1930s.  In 1931, the team’s players were drawn entirely from the Saskatoon Greek community. The team’s roster in October 1931 consisted of Harry Terzakis, Sam Sinis, Jack Zouboules (a student at City Park Collegiate who also played on his high school’s basketball team), Louis Kelles, and W. Manos; J. Howell was the coach.

During the first half of the 1931-32 schedule of games, the Spartans and the Go-Getters Basketball Team moved quickly to the top of the league’s standings. Terzakis was among the team’s top scorers. By the end of November, the Spartans replaced some of its Greek-community players with players from the broader Saskatoon community, with Terzakis, Zouboules, and Kelles remaining on the roster. By January, only Terzakis and Zouboules were identified as players from the Greek community.

By the end of the first half of the scheduled games for the 1931-32 season, the Spartans were in a three-way tie. The playoff  games resulted in the Spartans being league champions. The deciding game against the Toilers was described as “fast” and punctuated with “plentiful” personal fouls (Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, March 5, 1932, p. 11).

Jack Zouboules
Source: City Park Collegiate Yearbook, 1930

During the second half of the 1931-32 schedule of games, Zouboules and Terzakis continued to represent the Greek community on the Spartans lineup of players. The team again beat the Toilers in the playoff games and won the YMCA House Basketball League championship.

By 1934, Zouboules had joined the Junior Toilers in the Men’s Senior Saskatoon Basketball League. The Spartans continued to play in the YMCA House League and in February 1935, Irvin Hoidas was the only player with connections to the local Greek community. By early 1938, the Spartans no longer had any Greek-community players.

Researched by Ken Pontikes, June 12, 2024
Sources: Various editions of the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix.

 During the Saskatchewan Hockey League’s 1933-34 season, the Saskatoon Quakers Hockey Team (sponsored by Quaker Oats Company, a major employer in Saskatoon) went to Europe to represent Canada in the 1934 International World Amateur Ice Hockey Championship in Milan, Italy.  To finance the cost of travel to the competition, the Quakers embarked on a tour consisting of exhibition games in Canada and thirteen European countries.  The Quakers won the competition in Italy and became the 1934 World Amateur Hockey Champions by defeating Switzerland’s team in the semi-final and then, the United States team in the final. This was Canada’s seventh consecutive world championship.

The Girgulis brothers, through the Elite Café, had been significant sponsors of the Saskatoon Quakers and provided the venue for many meetings and gatherings of the hockey community in Saskatchewan. Sam Girgulis served on the Quakers’ executive committee.

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, April 15, 1933, p. 19

In order to compete in the 1934 world championship, the Quakers missed most of the provincial league’s 1933-34 season. Jimmy and Sammy Girgulis saw an opportunity to sponsor a replacement team, the Saskatoon Elites, to represent Saskatoon in the Saskatchewan Hockey League, a league of senior amateur players that operated with northern and southern divisions. The Girgulis brothers recruited players for the team, some moving up from junior teams and others being attracted from other teams, including members of the Quakers team who were not selected to travel to Europe. (An attempt was made to field a team with the remaining Quakers’ players, thereby creating a local competitor for the Elites. However, the Quakers’ players soon abandoned the effort and left the Elites as the sole Saskatoon senior amateur hockey team in 1934.) Harry Cameron was appointed as the team’s first coach. He would be replaced in January 1934 by Norman (“Heck”) Fowler, former coach of the Quakers.

According to the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, most of the team for the first games of the season consisted of “newcomers” to Saskatoon’s hockey scene:

“Bert ‘Mutt’ Gardiner, who tends goal for the blue and white sweatered outfit, has been the leading figure with the Calgary Jimmies in the past couple of seasons while that club was in search of western and dominion hockey honors. Last year he was rated as the best goalie in junior company in western Canada. Unknown to the majority of fans, [Saskatoon-born] Bert played his first hockey with Victoria School in the local public school league.

Jack Broadbent, former Crescent Northern League defenceman and regular candidate for the same position with the Quakers; Jim Haight, ex-Crescent, Wesley, and Tiger defenseman; and ‘Pat’ Paterson, mainstay of Delisle defenses, will alternate in front of Gardiner on defense.

The first-string forward line will consist of Les Cunningham, former Regina Pat at center, with Earl Nicholson, ex-Regina Aces at right wing, and Johnny Beattie, former Regina Vic, at left. Dick Dickinson, former Wesley and Varsity player is slated for center on the second forward line with ‘Vesty’ Quinn, Montreal Vics and Royale product, at right wing, and ‘Bliff’ Smith, ex-Wesley junior and Quaker at left. With the player limit dropped for the [exhibition] game, Les Edwards and Frank Stewart, former Tiger Juniors, and Jack Bentley of Delisle and Charlie Rudd of the Quakers will be given a chance to show their wares. (Saskatoon StarPhoenix, December 15, 1933, p. 18).

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, April 26, 1933, p. 16.

The Girgulis brothers also established an executive committee for the Saskatoon Elites consisting of local business leaders and hockey supporters. Jimmy Girgulis, as the club’s “sponsor”, served as president. Norman Couch was vice president; Harold K. Wright was secretary; and Paul Schwager was treasurer. The other members of the committee were Harry Keough, Sam Fose, Reg Scarrett, Percy Keane, and Sammy Girgulis. James Stevenson (of Bence, Stevenson, McLorge & Yanda Barristers) was the honorary president; R. M. Cantlon (of the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix), Ben Hoeschen (of the Saskatoon Brewing Company Limited), and Al C. Moffat (of Drewrys Ale and Standard Lager) were honorary vice presidents (Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, December 11, 1933, p. 11.)

The name of the team being associated with a commercial firm (The Elite Café) attracted criticism. Some considered this name as challenging the amateur status of its players – notwithstanding that in previous years, the Quakers were not challenged for being named after a business. The Star-Phoenix reacted to the controversy in the following way:

“It looks as if someone was anxious to stir up a bit of trouble in the provincial hockey world. As the Elites have been represented at two meetings of the [Saskatchewan Amateur Hockey Association] and no attempt has been made to have them change their name, it would seem they had the approval of the governing body. . . . There seems to be enough trouble in amateur ranks now without anyone starting any more, but one can’t help but suppose that it wouldn’t be amateur sport unless there were more squabbles. . . . It would be a mighty poor brand of hockey that would be dished up for the fans if someone did not come to the aid of the clubs. At times, a little criticism is in order but why don’t some of these lads come to the aid of the clubs financially” (Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, December 1, 1933, p. 16).

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, March 5, 1934, p. 11.

During the 1933-34 season, the Saskatoon Elites finished second in the Northern Saskatchewan Hockey Division. (Prince Albert Mintos won 3 of 4 games over the Saskatoon Elites in the final playoffs.) However, despite a respectable on-ice season in its first year of operation, the team was not a financial success and the team did not continue for another season.

For the 1934-35 season, teams were not allowed to continue playing in the Saskatchewan Amateur Hockey League under their commercially-linked name. The Quakers, therefore, returned to play in the Northern Saskatchewan Senior Hockey League under the name, the Saskatoon Standards Hockey Club, which it used for two seasons.

Researched by Ken Pontikes, June 18, 2024

Sources: Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame; Saskatoon Star-Phoenix (various editions).