Don Wheeler is a somewhat unusual candidate to enter the Builder’s Category of our Hall of Fame. Unusual in that, where most are honoured after retirement from their sport, Don is still very active. The native of Halifax is vice-chairman of the Halifax Recreation Commission, and, during the summer months, he directs the province’s most successful competitive fastball league, the Metro Major Fastball Association.

Don began his unscheduled trip to the Nova Scotia Sports Heritage Hall of Fame during the “Depression Years”. The 61-year-old began his playing days on the Halifax Commons, where he played baseball and softball, and at the School for the Deaf. Money, in those lean years, was a dominant factor in the participation in sports. “I sold papers, in order to have enough money to play basketball at the “Y”, he explained. Don’s baseball playing ability took him to the doorstep of the H & D League. “I played a few games before the imports arrived.” A couple of stints in the armed forces (RCAF) laid the foundation to his coaching and managing career. He got out of the air force in 1949 but re-enlisted the following year, after the outbreak of the Korean Conflict.

From softball, where he says that the late Erwin Lucas was the dominant factor in his development, to Golden Gloves boxing, the diminutive Haligonian did it all as a player. As a leader, he has handled everything from national finalist in fastball and basketball, to girl’s soccer. “I guess sports has been my life,” he understated. Especially when you consider that, as a youngster, he was the bat boy, stick boy and ball boy, for the famed Halifax Navy baseball, hockey and basketball teams. “My proudest moment, was when we took the George Dixon (a.k.a. Budget) Raiders to the national junior basketball finals, losing to a powerful Simon Fraser team. That was special.”

Another source of pride was taking the area’s first junior team to the national fastball championship finals in 1976. He also reflects warmly on the 1973 Dairy Queen fastball team that lost to Richmond Hill Dynes in the Canadian senior finals. Don, who is not one to stand in the spotlight, or to seek headlines, has spent the majority of his time coaching under-privileged children. The fact that, despite running one of today’s most respected fastball circuits, coaching basketball, swimming, or whatever the call may be, Don admits that while he is “proud and honoured” with being selected as a member of the Sports Hall of Fame, he is also “mystified” by the selection. There is not question, that Don Wheeler is “mystified”, that’s his nature. However, there are thousands of Nova Scotians, whose lives have been touched through the untiring efforts of a man who just wants to “help kids stay out of trouble”.

Bio Courtesy of Al Hollingsworth