He faced discrimination playing softball in Cape Breton. They want his legacy to be recognized [Video]

Two Nova Scotians have made it their mission to get a Black softball player inducted into the Cape Breton Sport Hall of Fame.

Arnold (Lucky) Campbell, who was born and raised in Glace Bay, played fast-pitch softball in the 1940s and 1950s.

He’s remembered in part for the array of positions he played on a four-man team called the Glace Bay Rockets. He was the team’s fifth member, and their only Black player.

“Lucky played ball — good ball, excellent ball,” Mary Desmond told CBC Radio’s Mainstreet Halifax.

“And Black African Nova Scotians couldn’t get on white teams unless he was the best, and better than any of the other team members.”

Desmond, a councillor for the Municipality of the District of Guysborough, learned of Campbell while doing research for a community newsletter in Glace Bay years ago.