How does a man born in baseball-crazy Boston, who then moves to Doctor’s Brook, Antigonish County, and never plays any softball, end up in the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame and the Softball Canada Hall of Fame as a builder for the sport of softball?
Donald Ross MacDonald, son of Lester J. and Mary D. MacDonald, first became involved in softball in Antigonish when he was asked to help out the Doctor’s Brook Blues team, which played in the AGR Softball League. Donald would look after finances for the team, which was a perfect fit for him as he was already working as an accountant in the community. Over the next few years, Donald would become involved as an executive member of the League, and eventually its president in 1983. He was president for three years, and then took over as Highland Region Director for Softball Nova Scotia, responsible for the sport in Eastern NS.
In 1987, Donald R. was elected President of Softball Nova Scotia and continued in that role until 1993, at which time he turned his attention to the sport at a national level. He was elected to the Board of Directors of Softball Canada, serving until 2011. While on the Board, Donald R. held various positions, and travelled all of the world representing Softball Canada. He was a voting delegate for Canada at the International Softball Congress in Long Beach, CA in 1997 and later in Nanjing, China, in 2003.
In 2014, Softball Canada recognized Donald R. as a builder when he was inducted in their Hall of Fame. His citation read in part: “Donald R. supervised 17 consecutive Canadian Championships from 1994 to 2010, and was very well known at softball diamonds throughout the country. He helped Softball Canada develop Canadian Championship schedules and was always prepared for every possible situation in his supervisor assignments. During his tenure as a member of the Board of Directors, he played a very active role on several committees, including the Men’s National Team Committee, the Officiating Development Committee, and the Finance and Audit Committee.
Prior to getting involved at the national level, Donald R. held the position of team manager for a number of teams in Antigonish. One of these teams included the 1984 Robertson’s Midget men’s team that won the Canadian National Midget title at a tournament held in Halifax. That team was inducted into the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame in 2005 with Donald R. as manager. Donald would ensure that fields and umpires were available, team rosters finalized, schedules prepared, statistics recorded, publicity distributed, and would address any issues that arose during league or tournament play. No team, league, provincial, or national sports organization could operate without such an executive member willing to donate their time to the sport, as Donald had done.
Donald R. was not only a manager, but a true builder of softball across Canada and made his contribution to the sport in that way; his involvement was not on the field as a player, but behind the scenes, prior to, during, and after the play on the field.
From the Doctor’s Brook Blues to the International Softball Congresses in California and China, he played his part in promoting the sport he adopted when he moved to Antigonish. Not bad for a fellow from the “Boston States” who never gave up his love for the Red Sox and the Bruins.
Donald R. MacDonald died 8 January 2020.
Submitted by Doug MacLellan, January 15th 2024