Volunteer in Sports Award recipients were recognized at a reception in Stratford on Jan. 13, honouring them for their tireless efforts in support of young athletes. Among the deserving winners was Mount Forest coach and volunteer Jim Donald.
Guest speaker Tim Taylor, former captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning thanked all volunteers and said that without those that assisted him he may not have realized his dream of being in the NHL, nor had the success he has enjoyed in his sport.
“Each of the recipients is to be congratulated for the many selfless hours of volunteer service they provide for our youth and their favourite sports organizations,” said Perth-Wellington MPP?John Wilkinson. “These special people spend their time helping our young athletes reach their dreams and potential, and they make us so proud.”
With more than 30 years of coaching experience, paired with great dedication to his players, Jim Donald has been inspiring and motivating youth for a long time in Wellington North. His passion for hockey and baseball is matched by his passion to see skill development and personal growth in every one of his players. Jim is also known in his community for his generosity, always lending a helping hand or making donations the minor sport programs.
Excerpts from Mr. Donald’s nomination are as follows:
Being on a team isn’t just about winning. It’s also about sportsmanship, leadership, community involvement and personal improvement. If those are the qualities you hope your child will develop, then you want Jim Donald to coach your softball or hockey team.
Jim is the kind of coach who also keeps learning and wants to improve the game. He has spent hours working on suggestions and improvements for minor hockey and minor ball and even presented concepts to WOAA, which were implemented.
Coach Jim believes in the kids. He will devote hours to improving a batting stance, a grip on a hockey stick, all to ensure one player is improving. His decisions are based on what is best for the team as a whole and what will help each player achieve the desired result. Many players consider their year spent with Coach Jim as the best in their minor career.
He strongly believes that sport teaches children about life; that merely showing up isn’t the way to get ahead in life, but doing your best is. If you are on his team, prepare to work hard. He is firm and disciplined, with logic well received by players.
And if giving of his time was not enough, Coach Jim is generous with his financial resources as well. He organizes an annual community softball tournament, where all proceeds go toward helping kids in minor ball. If a child can’t afford to participate in sport, he will do whatever he can to make it happen.
His knowledge of softball and hockey is only surpassed by his love of the games and his desire to help kids excel through sport. Coach Jim also has plenty of wins. He has in excess of 10 titles to his credit, and has been especially successful with softball where both girls and boys teams went on to claim hardware for Mount Forest.
Will players understand what it means to make their town proud? Will they respect others? Can they develop a healthy work ethic? If they have played for Coach Jim Donald, they will.
“Thank you for sharing with all of us your personal commitment to our young people, concluded Mr. Wilkinson at the reception. “You are our heroes.
Mr. Wilkinson also said he was impressed with each of the award recipients, calling them a community’s unsung heroes.