The History of Shuffleboard in BC

Table shuffleboard was first introduced to Canada right here in Vancouver, British Columbia.  Back in 1951, an Elks member, Frank Brown, saw two men in his Club setting up some kind of a table, which he learned was a table shuffleboard.  One of the men was Sandy Sandquist, who was the manufacturer of the shuffleboard.  Sandy explained the game to him and he quickly learned to love the sport.  Frank was drawn to this sport as he was restricted to a wheelchair so his choice of sports was limited.  Over the next few weeks and months, many Elks members became interested in the game of shuffleboard which led to some tournament play.  Sandy then decided to take the game of shuffleboard across Canada.  He set off across Canada in a motor home, pulling a trailer of shuffleboards giving all Canadians a chance to learn this great sport.

Shuffleboard in British Columbia was first documented in 1952 by the introduction of the Rules of Play formed by a group of shuffleboard players in Vancouver.  These Rules were adopted by the Canadian Shuffleboard Congress in 1964.  The first Canadian Championships were held in Toronto, Ontario with Men's Doubles as the sole event.  The first winners of the Men's Doubles were members of the BC Shuffleboard Association.  In 1967, Men's Singles was added to the Canadian Championships with Gunnar Sturham winning, also a member of the BC Shuffleboard Association.  Both the 1964 and 1967 Canadians were held in Toronto Ontario.  In 1972, the Ladies Singles and Doubles events were added with the winners of both these events from the Saskatchewan Shuffleboard Association.  Soon thereafter, in 1974, the Mixed Doubles were added to round out these Championships to 5 events.  The first winners of the Mixed Doubles were from the Alberta Shuffleboard Association.

A team trophy, the Grand Aggregate, was introduced in 1977 by a member of the BC Shuffleboard Association, and then President of the Canadian Shuffleboard Congress, Wayne Jensen, and the first team worthy of this coveted trophy were representatives from Manitoba.