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Challenge Cup
In 1931, L.C.A. Strother donated a silver cup to the North Dufferin Baseball League. The cup, as he outlined, would be a perpetual gift to be held by the winning team for one year upon which their team name would be engraved. It has been awarded on this basis a total of 74 times up to and including the 2009 season.
The cup has provided many cherished and memorable times for the winners and occasionally for the losers as well. In 1971 the Clarksburg team, after losing the finals to Lisle, stole the cup from the winner's victory party and boasted as to having won the championship to gain drinks from a local bar.
It was again temporarily abducted a few years later, this time from the league's Awards Night, by two Mansfield players. Ever since it has been carefully watched when displayed in public.
North Dufferin
Baseball League
Challenge Cup
Presented by
L.C.A. Strother ESQ
1931
N.D.B.L. Cup Winners
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| Year | Team |
| 1931 | Honeywood |
| 1932 | Mansfield |
| 1933 | Mansfield |
| 1934 | Mansfield |
| 1935 | Horning's Mills |
| 1936 | unknown |
| 1937 | Horning's Mills |
| 1938 | Creemore |
| 1939 | Ivy |
| 1940-44 | not awarded |
| 1945 | Mansfield |
| 1946 | unknown |
| 1947 | Mansfield |
| 1948 | Shelburne |
| 1949 | Mansfield |
| 1950 | Shelburne |
| 1951 | Horning's Mills |
| 1952 | Creemore |
| 1953 | Shelburne |
| 1954 | Shelburne |
| 1955 | Alliston |
| 1956 | Alliston |
| 1957 | Shelburne |
| 1958 | Shelburne |
| 1959 | Shelburne |
| 1960 | Shelburne |
| 1961 | Lisle |
| 1962 | Clarksburg |
| 1963 | Clarksburg |
| 1964 | Mansfield |
| 1965 | Clarksburg |
| 1966 | Lisle |
| 1967 | Lisle |
| 1968 | Creemore |
| 1969 | Creemore |
| 1970 | Everett |
| 1971 | Lisle |
| 1972 | Everett |
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| Year | Team |
| 1973 | Mansfield |
| 1974 | Lisle |
| 1975 | Ivy |
| 1976 | Manfield |
| 1977 | New Lowell |
| 1978 | Creemore |
| 1979 | New Lowell |
| 1980 | New Lowell |
| 1981 | Clarksburg |
| 1982 | Stayner |
| 1983 | Alliston |
| 1984 | Stayner |
| 1985 | Stayner |
| 1986 | Stayner |
| 1987 | Creemore |
| 1988 | Ivy |
| 1989 | Creemore |
| 1990 | Orangeville |
| 1991 | Creemore |
| 1992 | Creemore |
| 1993 | Creemore |
| 1994 | Mansfield |
| 1995 | Ivy |
| 1996 | Creemore |
| 1997 | Creemore |
| 1998 | Ivy |
| 1999 | New Lowell |
| 2000 | New Lowell |
| 2001 | Ivy |
| 2002 | New Lowell |
| 2003 | Ivy |
| 2004 | New Lowell |
| 2005 | Creemore |
| 2006 | Creemore |
| 2007 | Creemore |
| 2008 | Creemore |
| 2009 | Bolton |
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TEAM CHAMPIONS
(No. of Strother Cup Victories)
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| Creemore | 16 |
| Mansfield | 10 |
| Shelburne | 8 |
| Ivy | 7 |
| New Lowell | 7 |
| Lisle | 5 |
| Clarksburg | 4 |
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| Stayner | 4 |
| Alliston | 3 |
| Horning's Mills | 3 |
| Everett | 2 |
| Honeywood | 1 |
| Orangeville | 1 |
| Bolton | 1 |
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A Short History of Lancelot Charles Anthony Strother By Scott Anderson, 2007
Every year, a North Dufferin Baseball League team celebrates their victory by being awarded the Challenge Cup. This cup was donated by a man who was very sports-minded and generous of his wealth. That man was L.C.A. Strother and this year marks the 70th year since his death.
L.C.A. Strother pictured here in 1930 with son Frederick (left) and the Rev. D.G. Atkinson (right). |
Lancelot Charles Anthony Strother was born in England on December 1, 1866 to a Vicar, emigrated to Canada around 1883, lived in Manitoba and then moved to Ontario. Strother married Effie Case in December 1887 and had two boys, Frederick and Kenneth. The Strother's lived in Toronto at Lorne Hall, which was built in 1876 and named in honour of the Marquis of Lorne, Governor General of Canada.
Strother moved to Horning's Mills around 1911 and in that year began construction on a $30,000 mansion on an 80 acre property which included Horning's Mills Lake, also known as "Strother Lake". The house still stands today and owned by another family.
In 1930, Strother and others interested in baseball began the North Dufferin Baseball League. While L.C.A. Strother never served as an Executive Member he was awarded the title of Honorary President in 1931. 1931 was also the year in which he donated the Challenge Cup which has become to be known as the "Strother Cup". The Cup as he outlined would be a perpetual gift to be held by the winning team for one year, upon which their team name would be engraved.
Also in 1930, Strother purchased the land where the present day Horning's Mills Ball Park is located. Further, he provided funding to build "the club house, booth, playing field, seats and surrounding screen. He also presented the village's two ball teams with complete uniforms, bats, balls, bases and catcher's equipment", (Memories: A History of the North Dufferin Baseball League).
Strother throughout the 1900's travelled to his native England and also to Bermuda. It was on one of his trips that he died in Mexico on March 8, 1937 at the age of 71. Without the dedication and support of L.C.A. Strother, it is quite possible that the N.D.B.L. would not have been formed in 1930, and that the cherished, Challenge Cup would not be the most significant and protected trophy in the league.
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