Donnie Morris

Donnie Morris has been involved in sports in some capacity for most of his 52 years. In minor hockey, the native of the 4th of Kenyon was fortunate to take advantage of the opportunities provided for him by his parents, Howie and Gwen Morris and manager Omer Porier.

He was a member of the Alexandria Jr. B Glens hockey team for the 1969-1970 and 1970-1971 seasons. In 1971 he was awarded the Jim McCaffrey Trophy as Glengarry County’s Outstanding Athlete. That year, he was also named the MVP of the Gaels High School football team.

He spent 4 years as a member of the Men’s Varsity Hockey program under coach Paul Arsenault, earning Quebec University Athletic-Association first team All-Star honours in both 1975 and 1976. In December, 1975 Morris was asked to compete with a Montreal team of Quebec Junior and American league players against the touring Moscow Selects, a group of elite players from the Soviet Union. In 1976 he was awarded the Vern DeGeer Trophy as Canada’s Top Athlete with a Glengarry Blood Tie. In 1976 while at Concordia he was named an All-Canadian. Morris was inducted into the Concordia University Sports Hall of Fame in 2003 as an individual and again in 2005 for the 1975-76 team.

As a player in the Manotick Kings Senior AA league he was awarded League MVP honours in 1982 and helped lead the Almonte team earn three Citizen Shields.

But his most cherished sports memories remain his 16 seasons spent with the Greenfield Senior Men’s Soccer team in the GSL. He helped Greenfield earn 10 Championhips in 13 years between 1975 and 1987. Despite winning 4 GSL scoring titles, his play-making ability and commitment to the team were what he would become most respected for.

Donnie has attempted to emulate the examples of his memories through coaching, convening and organizing tournaments and trips for the student-athletes at St. Mark Catholic School in Manotick where he teaches.