the team was formed in 1932 as a group of friends playing baseball in stirling park in the east end of chatham, ontario. the following year in 1933, the team was noticed by archie stirling, a local business owner and representative for the ontario baseball amateur association (obaa). this was significant because until the late 1940s black players were banned from major league baseball and were not always welcome onto white teams at the amateur level in canada either. as the team was already barnstorming exhibition games in southern ontario, stirling brought them into the city league where they were able to compete against white teams. quickly gaining in popularity, the chatham coloured all-stars became known by many, including local reporters. in their second year playing in the league, they won the provincial championship, intermediate b division, making them the first black team to win an obaa title.