Greenlaw inducted into Canadian college hall of fame

jason.malloy @saltwire.com @JasonMa47772994

Bev Greenlaw thought about the people who supported him as he began his coaching career 50 years earlier as he recently took his spot among the top coaches, athletes and builders in Canadian college history.

The Grand Pré resident was inducted into the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Hall of Fame during a ceremony June 14 in Halifax. This year’s class, the first since the pandemic, was comprised of one builder, four coaches and three athletes all from the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA).

Greenlaw grew up in St. Stephen, N.B., and came to Nova Scotia to attend the University of King’s College. He later got involved with the New Options program in the north end of Halifax before coaching boys basketball at the Community YMCA in the early 1970s.

It was on his mind as he looked out at the crowd and made his induction speech at the Hall of Fame ceremony.

“Without the Community Y, there was no way I would be standing there that night,” Greenlaw recently recalled.

He said it was wonderful to see so many familiar faces, including a “wonderful turnout”

of former players and coaches, during the in-person ceremony and he was proud to have been selected for the recognition.

“I am extremely honoured,” he said. “I am incredibly appreciative of the CCAA.”

EARLY DAYS

Rod Shoveller recruited Greenlaw to coach the University of King’s in 1979. King’s made the conference final the last six seasons of his tenure as the Blue Devils’ bench boss and won two titles (1982 and 1987). Greenlaw was named the national coach of the year in 1987 when King’s went undefeated in conference play and was ranked second in the country.

“His passion for the game and superior basketball mind was only surpassed by the compassion he had for his players and his desire that they succeed in life,” Donnie McLean, a former player of Greenlaw’s who was named a CCAA all-Canadian in 1989 and 1990, said in a story on the CCAA website. “To this day, I consider Bev a true friend.”

Greenlaw continued to coach at the Community Y for nearly a decade while balancing his commitments with the Blue Devils. He was the university’s athletic director from 1981 to 1988.

In February 1987, Greenlaw coached Team Nova

Scotia to the gold medal at the Canada Games in Cape Breton.

He was soon hired to coach the Dalhousie Tigers and became the athletic director at Acadia University from 19982001. He later coached the Axewomen for seven seasons, guiding the team to the 2012 Atlantic University Sport (AUS) title – their first since 1951-52. He was also part of the coaching staff for the Horton High School Griffins boys and girls teams.

“I am incredibly appreciative to have had the opportunity to be a coach at a lot of different places,” the coach said.

Greenlaw said he realized early on that coaching was a medium through which he could help young people find, choose and follow their path in life.

NATIONAL CHANGE

When Greenlaw went to King’s, part of the condition was to request a national change to allow the degreegranting institution to be able to play for the national title.

At the time, King’s could play for the Nova Scotia championship, which later became the ACAA, but was not permitted to represent the region at nationals.

In 1981, he was part of the contingent which made Nova Scotia’s case at the national board’s annual general meeting in Quebec City. As a result, King’s and Mount Saint Vincent would become the first degree-granting institutions to receive membership.

LOOKING BACK

Greenlaw looks back fondly at those early days of his coaching career and said those Community Y teams had success relying on quick, athletic and dedicated players.

“In that initial go-around, to have been embraced by the community in the way that I was and still am, my life has been tremendously enriched by all those experiences,” he said.

“Coaching is a great gig,” he added. “I’ve been really fortunate to spend a lot of time in gyms with a lot of neat people.”