Keith Mackintosh is getting the call to the hall.
The Melfort product has been named as one of five inductees into the 2024 Softball Canada Hall of Fame Class and will be enshrined during the induction ceremony in Saskatoon in November.
Mackintosh says he was surprised to hear of the news at first.
“My initial reaction was a little bit of shock. I knew I’d been nominated but I was surprised and obviously honored to get the call. The first thing was shock and then after it kind of set in, it was a humbling, honoring moment.”
Mackintosh won Canadian Championships with the Melfort 222’s in the Midget Men’s and Junior Men’s categories in 1986 and 1989. He won three Men’s Canadian Championships in 1997, 2000 and 2001. He has won three Master Men’s Canadian Championships in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022.
Playing for team Canada, Mackintosh helped the national team capture a silver medal at the 2002 Pan-Am Games as well as a gold medal in 2003 while serving as a co-captain. He also competed in the WBSC World Cup in Saskatoon, taking home a bronze.
He was a five-time ISC All-World Selections and earned All-Star shortstop honours multiple times. He was also inducted into the ISC Hall of Fame in 2017.
Mackintosh says the high point of his career in softball was winning a gold medal while representing Canada.
“As a player, I thought it was the ultimate thing that a player can do in our game. Obviously, there’s no Olympic games on the men’s side, so the Pan-American games was a huge honour to get that team with success, winning the gold. I just thought representing Canada was probably the pinnacle of my career, and I was fortunate enough to do that a few times at different world events. Any time you get a chance to play for your country is pretty special.”
After his playing career, Mackintosh would join the coaching ranks and serve as the head coach for Team Sask at the 2013 Canada Summer Games. Today, Mackintosh serves as the head coach for the Junior Women’s National Team.
He says he like to be able to relate to his players as someone who has also played for the national team in the past.
“I just thought it was a natural progression. I love coaching, especially at the national team level. I know what those players are going through because I went through it myself as a player. So just pretty special to be involved and be able to wear the leaf now on the other side of the field.”
Mackintosh is being inducted in the athlete category. The other four inductees this year are all from Saskatchewan with Travis Ethier (athlete), Bryan Kosteroski (builder), Don Bates (coach) and Gary Skjerven (official) being the other nominees.
Mackintosh says the fact all the inductees are from Saskatchewan shows the passion for the game in province.
“It’s special to go in with that group. There’s a real special group. There’s representation on the building side, playing side and officiating side. I know all of those gentlemen very well. It does say a lot for Saskatchewan that we have the depth and talent on all sides in our game. It just goes to show, even with the men coming to Prince Albert next year, that Saskatchewan always puts on a good show.”
The induction ceremony for the 2024 Softball Canada Hall of Fame will take place during the Softball Canada AGM scheduled for Nov. 7-9 in Saskatoon.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
