Class of 2018
Cape Breton Sports Hall of Fame welcomes new inductees during annual ceremony on Friday
Carroll Morgan was born with a double hernia and wasn’t expected to live — but a few days later he was going home with his mother.
The doctors had told his mother that the now 70-yearold would not be able to do any heavy lifting or play any type of “hard” sports.
He certainly proved them wrong.
Although having not played any sports as a child, Morgan made up for lost time in university, suiting up for the St. Francis Xavier University football team, helping the X-Men win their first Vanier Cup in 1966.
He was later introduced to the sport of boxing at age 20 by university roommate Francis (Rocky) MacDougall of Sydney
“They told me I was never going to lift, but yet I lifted 400 pounds at one point,” said Morgan.
Morgan was one of three athletes, two teams and a builder inducted in the Cape Breton Sports Hall of Fame during annual awards ceremony at Centre 200 in Sydney on Friday.
Close to 275 people attended the ceremony, which featured a
special meal, speeches and the induction presentations.
The Whiteside, Richmond County, native began his boxing training at Venetian Gardens in downtown Sydney. He went on to capture North American, Canadian, Atlantic, and provincial championships during his career.
He represented Canada in the ring at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, finishing fourth at the games. He later represented the country at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games.
During the 1972 Olympics, the Palestinian terrorist group known as Black September took 11 Israeli Olympic team members hostage, later killing them along with a German police officer.
Morgan, who was inducted into the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990, said at the time he wasn’t scared, however he was disappointed that his fight was delayed.
“We couldn’t get back to the
place where we were living during the games because of it,” he said. “It was over when we had heard about it, but all I was concerned about was my next fight.”
Along with Morgan, athletes Amy Cotton and Greg Floyd, the 1986 Ashby Pepsi Selects bowling team and the New Waterford Kinsmen Rovers baseball team, and builder Murray (Mackie) MacIntosh were also inducted at the ceremony.
Carol Miller, chair of the organizing committee for the Cape Breton Sports Hall of Fame, believes recognizing Cape Breton’s sports
history is important.
“They deserve to be recognized and honoured for their talents,” said Miller. “They may not be known across the province, but in Cape Breton they’re well-known and respected and should be inducted into a sports hall of fame.”
Miller said the Cape Breton Sports Hall of Fame committee is currently in the process of creating a website where all inductees are expected to be recognized for their sports accomplishments.