Montreal Amateur Athletic Association is Canada's oldest athletic association, located in Montreal, Quebec. It was renamed as the Club Sportif MAA or just MAA (Montreal MAA) in 1999 after a brush with bankruptcy, but is still widely known as the MAAA. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the MAA was one of the most important sporting institutions in Canada, and North America, with affiliated teams winning ice hockey's Stanley Cup and Canadian football's Grey Cup.
In the 1880s, the MAAA organized the famous annual Montreal Winter Carnival.[1] The Winter Carnival featured a temporary "ice castle" or "ice fort", which would be "stormed" in a mock attack, as well as several events, such as snowshoe races, toboggan slides, skating carnivals and ice hockey tournaments. The Sir Vincent Meredith Trophy was awarded to the best all-round athlete in the MAAA.
The current clubhouse was opened in 1905, on Peel Street in downtown Montreal, in the current commercial district. Due to problems with an aging population, the club switched from being solely member-financed during the revival of 1999. The high taxes on the clubhouse property in central Montreal exacerbated their problems.
W. R. Granger served two years as the president Montreal AAA from 1918 to 1920,[2] and hosted The Prince of Wales at the clubhouse on a royal visit in November 1919.[3] By the end of World War I, Granger had overseen the revival of the association's ice hockey, baseball and soccer teams; and hoped to restart the lacrosse team, establish a trapshooting club, and erect a memorial for members who died serving in the war.[4]
Historic teams
Ice hockey
The Montreal Hockey Club as the first Stanley Cup champions
The 1902 team was known as the "Little Men of Iron".[5] After the 1903 season, players from the team formed the core of the Montreal Wanderers professional club, who took on the "Little Men" nickname. After withdrawing from play with professional teams, the MHC club continued as an amateur club after 1908, winning the Allan Cup in 1930.
The Montreal AAA had withdrawn from several competitive sports by the early 1930s. In October 1932, its directors announced its ice hockey team would separate from the association, and be operated by E. S. Hamilton and G. T. Ogilvie as the Royal Montreal Hockey Club, pending acceptance by the Quebec Amateur Hockey Association.[6][7]
Athletic achievements
Montreal AAA clubhouse c. 1913
1893 – Montreal Hockey Club wins its first Stanley Cup
1894 – Montreal Hockey Club wins its second Stanley Cup
1902 – Montreal Hockey Club wins its third Stanley Cup
1903 – Montreal Hockey Club wins challenge to part-holder of title for 1903 Stanley Cup