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Hall of Famers

Hall of Famer

Alexandrine Gibb

Inducted in 2015

Member Details

Date of Birth: 1891
Date of Passing: 1958
Sport: Multisport
Member Category: Builder

Career Highlights

1928

Elected manager of the Canadian Women's National Team

1934

Appointed to the Ontario Athletic Commission as the first “Duchess” to be named in Canada.

Hall of Famer Alexandrine Gibb
Sport

Story

Alexandrine Gibb was a pioneer in women’s sports advocating for women’s sports organizations across Canada. Alexandrine was a sports journalist for the Toronto Daily Star where she worked for more than 30 years including writing a daily column entitled “No Man’s Land of Sport”.   Alexandrine began to advocate for women’s sports in the early 1920’s, working to ensure that women would have the same opportunities and equal access to sports facilities that men already had at that time. 

Alexandrine was involved in many different sport organizations, establishing many of them such as the Ladies’ Ontario Basketball Association in 1919 where she was elected President in 1925. Alexandrine was also a member of the Toronto Ladies’ Athletic Club and in 1920 she was elected President. Alexandrine coined the phrase “girls’ sport run by girls” and put that belief into practice. In 1922 Alexandrine was elected Vice President of the Canadian Amateur Basketball Association in 1922, as the only female on the executive council.

Alexandrine and her associates were determined to create a national women’s sport organization with branches in all provinces. The Canadian Ladies’ Athletic Club was established as a result and she was the first President of this Club.  In 1925, the Women’s Amateur Athletic Union of Canada was created and Alexandrine was chosen to draft its constitution. Alexandrine was also a driving force behind the creation of the Women’s Amateur Athletic Foundation of Canada in 1926 and in 1928 she was elected President for two years. Alexandrine’s tireless efforts to advocate for women’s sports eventually led her to be elected manager of the Canadian Women’s Olympic team in 1928 and she made history when she was appointed to the Ontario Athletic Commission in 1934 as she was the first “Duchess” to be named in Canada.