MEMORIAL GOLF TOURNAMENT
Late Mike Kennedy honoured for commitment to youth.
In life, Mike Kennedy attempted to avoid drawing attention to his good deeds, whether it was purchasing sneakers for a child so that they could play basketball or paying tournament fees for someone who couldn’t afford them.
But the friends and family of the New Waterford native, who died of cancer last year, will gather for the first annual memorial fundraising golf tournament at Lingan, Aug. 3, to support causes that were close to his heart and to remember the contributions that he made in the fields of sports and education.
“He was such a community-minded person,” said Kennedy’s niece, Tammy Martin, who is the NDP MLA for Cape Breton Centre. “I just thought that he did so much that the least that I could do was do something to give back to the community in his name.”
Proceeds from the first annual Mike Kennedy Golf Tournament at Lingan Golf Club will support Special Olympics and the Cape Breton Cancer Centre.
As a player, Kennedy was a member of the New Waterford Strands, the 1973 Nova Scotia Challenge Cup soccer champions. He was also part of the New Waterford Strands team that captured the 1974 Maritime intermediate basketball championship, while also capturing titles with the Cape Breton Kelts, Cape Breton senior soccer champions, and the Hi-Fi Hawks fastball team, a club that captured backto-back Nova Scotia Intermediate championships in 1976 and 1977.
He also coached junior high and high school basketball for many years at Breton Education Centre and was the co-founder of New Waterford Minor Basketball, and the basketball court near the former St. Agnes School site was renamed the Mike Kennedy Basketball Court in honour of his years of dedication to New Waterford Minor Basketball. Martin noted the KOC also renamed the annual track and field meet in his honour.
Kennedy is also set to be inducted into the New Waterford and District Sports Hall of Fame next month.
Following his death, many people came forward with stories of how Kennedy had helped people, especially youth, take part in sports who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford it — stories that he had never shared with anyone himself, Martin said.
“Mike was one that never wanted to be recognized for anything, he didn’t want people to know what he did or how he helped kids,” she said. “Sadly, people are saying he should have had this recognition while he was alive ... We had no idea because Mike wasn’t about doing anything to gain recognition.”
Martin said she expected many people from the sports community as well as educators — Kennedy was a retired physical education teacher — will want to take part in the tournament. If someone wants to take part but isn’t a golfer, they are welcome to volunteer, she added.
Applications are available from Martin’s constituency office. For more information call 902-271-3681. The price is $125 per person or $500 for a team of four to enter the tournament, which includes dinner. The final date for entries is July 27. A Facebook event has also been set up for the tournament.