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While it’s been just over three years since well known tri-county athlete Matt Maxwell passed away suddenly at his home in Beaverdam, Shelburne County, his memory lives on.
At the F.A Brannen Memorial Ball Field in Clark’s Harbour, his silhouette graces the scoreboard, and the Clark’s Harbour Area Minor Ball Association (CHAMBA) now presents the Matt Maxwell Memorial Awards, given annually to a player from each of the divisions who are nominated by the coaches and selected by the board.
The award is presented to the players who shows true sportsmanship, have a positive attitude, a passion for the game and demonstrate support for their teammates which are all qualities Matt was known for, said CHAMBA president Karen Stoddard during the inaugural awards ceremony on Sept. 11.
“Most of these players never had the pleasure of knowing Matt or having him coach them on the field,” said Ryan Ross, CHAMBA board member and coach. “Those that did will realize what an honour these awards are to receive.”
“Matt would never have expected this in a million years. He wouldn’t believe the stuff that has been done in his memory to help local organizations and to help local baseball teams and the field,” Ross said. “We plan to keep his memory alive for many years to come through these awards and improvements on our field.”
Also present at the awards ceremony were Matt’s parents June and Stephen Maxwell and his grandmother Della Maxwell. This year, for a second time, the family organized and hosted the Matt Maxwell Memorial Golf Tournament at River Hills in Clyde River. And for the second time they donated the proceeds to community organizations.
“We can’t even begin to tell you what a great success the tournament was,” said June. “This community is unbelievable. We all pulled together and made more money this year than in the first tournament.” And that, she said, was with only four weeks to organize it.
The Maxwells presented a cheque for $15,000 to CHAMBA and a cheque for $10,000 to the Clark’s Harbour Elementary School breakfast program, which will be spent at the discretion of the teachers and principal to pay for school lunches and other necessities for children who need help.
A third donation is going to be made later this fall to Crosbie House in New Minas. The family also donated $8,000 to Crosbie House the first year the tournament was held in 2019, which was used to help fund a new room with major gym equipment, said June.
CHAMBA and the Shelburne County Minor Hockey Association were also beneficiaries of the first golf tournament. The first donation of $6,500 to CHAMBA was used to buy a new scoreboard, fix the infield, put cubbyholes in the dugouts and other small repairs.
CHAMBA hopes to use this year’s donation to help build a new canteen with an announcers booth and storage upstairs. They are awaiting a quote for the project, said Stoddard.
Plans are already underway for the third Matt Maxwell Memorial Golf Tournament, scheduled to be held Aug. 21, 2022.
“We plan to keep it annual. Everybody’s talking about it. It’s kind of morphed into something big,” said June.
“Matthew was an avid sportsman. It wouldn’t matter. Basketball, baseball, golf, he just excelled in sport. We decided to do a golf tournament because it is so much easier (to organize) and all his friends are golfers.”
This year’s tournament had a full field of 40 teams with five more on a waiting list, said June, adding she is already being contacted by people wanting to sponsor next years’ tournament.
“It makes you feel good when you know your hard work has paid off and you’re going to see the results of it,” she said. “For me it’s keeping his name alive.”
The 2021 Matt Maxwell Memorial Award recipients
U9 – Taya Sears
U11 – Sawyer Stoddard
U13 – Nicolas Toope
U18 – Evan Locke
U12 – Mattie Ross
U15 – Sadie Symonds
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