BROOKFIELD, N.S. — Local athlete Cam Patton has a lot on his plate. Patton and his Colchester Royals teammates are representing Nova Scotia at the 2019 U19 Men’s Canadian Fastpitch Championship now underway in Owen Sound, Ont.
Once the national fastpitch event wraps up Sunday, Patton’s attention will turn to hockey.
“I would say we are a better team this year,” Patton, of Bible Hill, said regarding the Royals. “We’ve picked up a couple U16 players this year, they’re very good for sure. Overall we’re a stronger team than the past couple years.
“It’s gone really well for us this year. playing in the higher-calibre Shooters
Bar & Grill Fastpitch League; we’ve been really competitive, especially these past few weeks.”
A valuable member of the Royals, Patton is a pitcher, does some catching and plays third base. And offensively, he swings a good bat.
Looking ahead to Aug. 25, Patton will report for hockey training camp with the Carleton Place Canadians, his second season with the Ontario junior A team.
“I have two seasons of junior hockey left, I’ll probably spend it with Carleton Place. It’s a great organization, we work out and practise every day, players are really encouraged to continue their education.
My goal for hockey is to eventually play NCAA hockey, the university or college level in the United States.”
Patton feels Carleton Place can help get players to that level.
“At this point I stand a good chance to make it,” he said.
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You might say there was a special visitor in the press box at Elk Park in Brookfield last Thursday night.
Truro native Darrell Maxwell, home from Kanata, Ont. to play in the Apex Golf Tournament, was happy to spend time with his old friend, public address announcer Terry Henderson.
“Being here watching the Elks play, it brings back some fond memories,” said Maxwell, 72. “I watched ball here in the days of Denny Clyke, Donald Ross, Terry (Henderson) and Hughie and Johnny Matheson. The crowds were big in those days. It’s always nice to get out to Brookfield; to me this community is like a field of dreams.”
Maxwell recalled selling golf balls to Don Henderson, Terry’s father, as a teenager.
“I knew both Don and Terry from Stanfields Ltd., I worked in the stockroom a couple of summers when I was still a student.”
Truly a remarkable athlete, Maxwell won the Nova Scotia Junior Golf Championship in 1965; he won junior and senior titles the same year at Truro and was named Nova Scotia’s golfer of the year.
Maxwell has won the Apex at least three times, it was at age 53 he tried out for the Senior PGA Golf Tour in Kissimmee, Fla.
“I’ve played in the Apex every year except a couple of years these past 46 years,” said Maxwell. I’ve ran into guys like Butch Atkinson, Johnny Hutchinson and others. It’s always good to see former athletes I looked up to.”
Maxwell pinpointed 1973 as the year he organized an open invitational golf tournament at the Truro Golf Club.
“The next year my brother, Chook, and Art Jordan, of the Apex Cleaning Business, began sponsoring the event.”
In 1965-66, Maxwell, a forward, starred for Victoriaville Bruins the Quebec Provincial Junior Hockey League Champions.
The next season he won the Truro District Hockey League scoring championship. The next few seasons, playing for Saint Mary’s Huskies, he contributed to several varsity championships.
After watching Justin Schofield of the White Rock Rockies strike out 14 and ‘no-hit’ Brookfield Elks last Thursday night, Maxwell had this to say.
“I’m impressed.”
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Former Truro District Hockey League player Vaughan Dickie, 86, of Onslow passed away July 27.
A strong forward with a long list of Onslow hockey teams during the 1950s and 1960s, Dickie is recalled playing on a high scoring line with Bobby Crowell at the height of his career. Following his TDHL days, Dickie coached the Truro Midget All-stars and the Debert Oldtimers.
One of the founding members of the Onslow-Belmont Fire Brigade, Dickie was well known and well liked.
The passing of another TDHL standout, Ray Smiley, took place earlier this year. Smiley, a Truro resident, was a very fast skater and a strong playmaker who starred with Shubenacadie Lions and the Debert 16X Satellites.
A retired carpenter, Smiley was a friendly, humble man.
Lyle Carter’s sports column appears weekly in the Truro News. If you have a story idea, contact him at 902-673-2857.
