Mayor’s Cup goes to Little League legend
Bruce Campbell awarded for volunteer service
Bruce Campbell says there are three reasons why he has devoted so much service to Little League baseball: “I’m having fun, there are great people around me, and my wife lets me do it.”
It’s probably not quite that simple, but it has been noteworthy, and for those many years of service Campbell will be presented with the Mayor’s Cup for Outstanding Contribution to Sport in Ottawa during the annual Ottawa Sports Awards ceremony at Algonquin College Wednesday.
Also receiving lifetime achievement awards will be longtime water polo coach David Hart, Rideau Canoe Club volunteer and administrator Charles Slade and figure skating judge Elizabeth Clark.
Campbell has served 23 years as president of the East Nepean Little League Baseball Association, helped oversee regional provincial and national championships and was part of the committee that bid successfully for Ottawa to play host to the Canadian Little League Major Championship in August 2015. He also works with the East Nepean Challenger Baseball program for youths between the ages of five and 18 with physical or developmental disabilities.
In addition, Campbell is also a director of Little League Ontario and treasurer for Little League Canada, and he was recently appointed to the advisory board for Little League International.
“I love to volunteer,” says Campbell, a longtime Citizen employee in what is now known as the Reader Sales and Service Department. “I don’t directly do it for that, but it helps rub off on other people. Volunteering improves the community and improves the quality of life in and around the community.”
Hart will receive the Brian Kilrea Lifetime Achievement Coaching Award. A co-captain of the Canadian national team for the 1972 and 1976 Olympics, he coached the Ottawa Titans from 2000 to 2008 and is the only coach to work with all six national team programs, as well as serving as head coach of the Brazilian women’s team.
He also created programs for the National Coaching Certification Program and helped form the Canadian Water Polo League.
Slade will be presented with the Mark Lowery Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement for Sports Volunteerism.
He has served as commodore of the Rideau Canoe Club on three occasions and has been a director of the organization for 29 years, as well as volunteering with a score of championships and festivals. He is currently treasurer of Canoe/Kayak Canada and chair of the Ontario Canoe Sprint Racing Association.
Clark is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award — Technical Official.
She is an International Skating Union judge for singles, pairs and ice dance and has been assigned twice to the world figure skating championships, twice to the junior world championships and to this year’s ISU World Team Trophy. She has also served on judging panels at Olympic Games, Canadian championships and other international events.