Biography of Coach John Percy Page: By Kelsey MacKenzie

John Percy Page

John Percy Page, who was also referred to as J. Percy Page was the coach of the Edmonton Commercial Grads. He was born on May 14, 1887 in Rochester, New York. His parents, Absalom Bell Page and Elizabeth Thomas, who were Canadian citizens; when John was three years old he moved with his parents to Bronte, Ontario where he was raised. He went to school at Oakville Junior High School, Hamilton Collegiate Institute, Ontario Normal School and Queens University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. Also, Page earned a Bachelor of Commercial Science degree from the American Institute of Business.
            Page was a teacher. He started his teaching career in Rothesay, New Brunswick at Rothesay Collegiate. He then transferred to St. Thomas Collegiate Institute. In 1910, Page married Maude Roche and they had one daughter named Patricia Hollingsworth. He was invited to Edmonton, Alberta in 1912 to introduce commercial training into the high school system. He eventually became the Principal of two high schools in Edmonton, McDougall Commercial High School and Victoria Composite High School.
            While Page was at the McDougall Commercial High School he was the coach of the senior girls’ basketball team. Page continued to coach these girls after they graduated on a team known as the Edmonton Commercial Grads. The Grads became the greatest women’s basketball team of all time. The Grads are one of the most successful teams in sport of all time, no basketball team has come close to their record. Over a 25 year span, the Grads won 502 out of 522 games including 4 Olympic appearances. The team’s success can be attributed not only to the natural ability of the players, but also to strong leadership, dedication, sportsmanship and dedication.
            Looking back on the success of the Edmonton Commercial Grads, it is apparent that a great deal of their success is due to excellent coaching. Page developed what he called a “farm system” to form the basketball team. The girls would develop their skills while working their way up through three teams, the last team being the Graduates. When the girls were talented enough to make the Graduate team, Page had already been working with the girls since their earliest playing days. Page set very high standards for both himself and his team. The players dressed and acted like ladies. Page did not allow the players to smoke, drink or chew gum. The players were also not allowed to play once they were married. He used to tell his team “You must play basketball, think basketball and dream basketball”. The Graduates had two practices a week except during the summer months, and Page only missed three practices throughout his whole coaching career. Page’s strong commitment to the team resulted in a low turnover rate of the players, leading to only 38 players ever having played for the Edmonton Commercial Graduates basketball team. The team fell apart in 1940 when its gym was taken over by the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan during World War II.
            After the Commercial Grads were over, Page went into politics. He was elected as one of the members for the Edmonton electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in 1940. He was then re-elected as a Leader of the Opposition. He ran for the Independent Citizens’ Association of Alberta in 1948 but did not win. He was elected as a Progressive Conservative Member in 1952 and was also appointed the House Leader for the Conservatives. He retired from teaching at this time. He was re-elected in 1955 but was then defeated in 1959. From 1957 to 1959 he was a trustee of the Edmonton Public School Board. Page was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame as a basketball builder.
            Page was made a Knight of Grace of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in 1961. He was also awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Alberta. The J. Percy Page School in Edmonton is named in his honour. He died on March 2, 1973 in Edmonton, Alberta.