Strother Cup

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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 87 times up to and including the 2023 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.

(Photo) North Dufferin Baseball League Challenge Cup
North Dufferin
Baseball League
Challenge Cup
Presented by
L.C.A. Strother ESQ
1931



N.D.B.L. Cup Winners

 
 
   
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
1973 Mansfield
1974 Lisle
1975 Ivy
1976 Mansfield
1977 New Lowell
1978 Creemore
1979 New Lowell
   
Year Team
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
2010 Bolton
2011 Bolton
2012 Bolton
2013 Bolton
2014 Ivy
2015 New Lowell
2016 New Lowell
2017 Bolton
2018 Ivy
2019 New Lowell
2020 not awarded
2021 Bolton
2022 New Lowell
2023 New Lowell






TEAM CHAMPIONS
(No. of Strother Cup Victories)

 

 
   
Creemore 16
New Lowell 12
Mansfield 10
Ivy 9
Shelburne 8
Bolton 7
Lisle 5
   
Clarksburg 4
Stayner 4
Alliston 3
Horning's Mills 3
Everett 2
Honeywood 1
Orangeville 1




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.