History of the Dowson Cup

Sally and Craig Dowson (of Dowsons Shoes fame), along with their children, kindly donated a trophy to be used to recognise the winners of a preseason basketball tournament between boys’ schools. This was known as the “Dowson Cup Tournament”, and began in 2013 with four high school teams competing: Burnside; Cashmere; Middleton Grange; St. Andrew’s. The Dowson family was heavily involved with the St. Andrew’s College Basketball Program for many years, so when discussions began between the four inaugural schools, the Dowsons were keen to be involved and provide some motivation for teams to compete.

Cashmere, Middleton Grange and St. Andrew’s contested the Cup every year, with the tournament expanding to eight teams in 2016 with the addition of: Christchurch Boys’; Papanui; Rangiora; Shirley Boys’; St. Thomas of Canterbury joining the other three teams. Time pressures on players and coaches saw this preseason competition get suspended in 2017.

Sally and Craig have given their blessing to have the Dowson Cup live on in a new form, beginning in 2017:

• Every regular season game in the McDonald’s Thomson Trophy Competition that the current trophy holder is playing in will be played as a Dowson Cup game, with the winning team at the end of the contest taking ownership of the cup.
• A Dowson Cup challenge will take place every week of the regular season (unless the current holder has a bye), with both home and away matches being opportunities for their opponents to be awarded the Dowson Cup

Previous Dowson Cup Holders

2013       Cashmere High School

2014       Cashmere High School

2015       Cashmere High School

2016      Christchurch Boys’ High School

Dowson Cup Ownership Changes

16 May 2017 – Burnside High claims trophy from Christchurch Boys’ High 72-57

30 May 2017 – Cashmere High claims trophy from Burnside High 76-55

30 July 2019 – Middleton Grange claims trophy from Cashmere High 102-90

21 July 2020 – St. Andrew’s claims trophy from Middleton Grange 109-99

26 May 2021 – St. Bede’s claims trophy from St. Andrew’s 100-94

22 June 2021 Middleton Grange claims trophy from St. Bede’s 91-84

29 June 2021 St. Andrew’s claims claims trophy from Middleton Grange 101-83

3 August 2021 Christ’s College claims trophy from St. Andrew’s 113-96

29 June 2022 St Thomas claims trophy from Christ’s College 102-69

26 July 2022 Christ’s College reclaims trophy from St Thomas 79-53

23 May 2023 Middleton Grange claims trophy from Christ’s College 92-81

30 May 2023 Rangiora claims trophy from Middleton Grange 105-86

25 July 2023 St Thomas gain trophy from Rangiora 103-93

14 May 2024 Shirley claim trophy for first time ever against St Thomas 94-82

28 May 2o24 Cashmere beat Shirley to gain trophy 93-83

Cashmere High School held the trophy for a record 804 days: 30 May 2017 until 30 July 2019 (22 successful shield defences!)