Kevin Heisler’s election to the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame as a builder has met with favour from many people connected to track and field in the Halifax area, the province and throughout Canada.

The Halifax teacher (now retired) has had an outstanding impact as a volunteer mentor, coach, meet organizer, board and executive member, and promoter for more than 35 years.

Martin Goulet, chief high-performance officer for Athletics Canada, remarked, “Kevin has been a dedicated and appreciated leader in our sport at the provincial and national level, specifically in his role as a coach on our national team projects.”

“He was head coach at the 1997 Pan American Junior Championships and staff coach at three World Cross Country Championships since 1992, the latest Brussels in 2004. He has demonstrated a strong commitment and eagerness to be the best he can be as a coach and to provide the athletes with great care and sound advice.

There are so many areas of expertise that Kevin brings to the table when he’s serving track and cross country. His coaching ability has taken many athletes to provincial and national titles and international events, but more so, his enthusiastic approach to each individual athlete has made the experience one they treasure. His athletes and other coaches call him “unflappable”, “motivating”, “reassuring”, and “calm”.

Athletes and coaches also praise Kevin for initiating and fostering one of the finest track and field meets in Canada — the Aileen Meagher Classic, held annually in Halifax since 1992. Rather than sending athletes away, at high cost, to face national and international talent and learn from competing against better athletes, Kevin decided to bring the better athletes to Halifax.

The meet has drawn great crowds and created new fans of a sport that has its own base, but which is rarely seen by the general public beyond Olympic and World meets, along with a few other high-profile events.

As Peter Lord, track and field coach at Dalhousie University and former executive director of Athletics Nova Scotia said, “From its humble beginnings, there was always a vision of what the Meagher could become — a meet that can inspire, educate and entertain in a tight two-hour package.”

His reputation as a meet director reaches to the basic needs of runners, starting with the largest elementary school meets in Nova Scotia in the last dozen years, to the highly competitive national cross-country championships. His meets also enable officials to practice their skills and be evaluated for promotion to higher levels of certification.

Through the years, Kevin has been a middle-distance coach of many provincial teams, the Canadian junior men’s and senior women’s teams at world cross country championships, headed Canada’s delegation at the 1993 World Cross Country Championships in Spain, and was Canadian team leader at a 2002 meet in Beijing. He has been twice named Athletics Nova Scotia’s coach of the year. On eight occasions Heisler has served as a National team coach at international championships. Five of his athletes have achieved national team status.

Heisler has been meet manager for five National Cross Country Championships and meet director for the Aileen Meagher International Track meet since 1992. His athletes have competed nationally and internationally and won AUS and CIS honours. Heisler has been organizer and meet director for high-performance competitions in Atlantic Canada for the past 26 years, bringing national attention to the local track scene and its athletes.

Alex Gardiner, Director for Middle Distance Events, Athletics Canada, added, “Kevin has always been, and continues to be, our man in the East’. He always has the athletes in mind where he showcases track and field through the Meagher meet with some of the world’s best competing alongside our rising stars. Kevin’s genuine warmth and Maritime friendliness is one reason athletes (from away) want to come to the Meagher meet. Kevin and his team do a superlative job making them welcome.

Kevin could sit back and relax after a four-decade teaching career, but he stays very involved — with the Meagher, of course, and also as head coach of Saint Mary’s University’s track and cross-country programs, and a decades long connection to the Halifax Wanderers Club.

Bio Courtesy of Joel Jacobson