Jimmy (Jim) Mutcheson greatly enjoyed his time spent working with youngsters. He also enjoyed the competitiveness of being involved in sport himself.

Born in Portage la Prairie, James Adrian Mutcheson was an accomplished athlete. He was a goaltender, beginning with Portage Terriers Jr. A and Provincial Champ Portage Intermediates. Mutcheson went on to excel with a number of other hockey clubs from 1942-1962, winning three SEMHL championships with Miami Rockets and also Provincial A and B titles in 1962. Personal highlights include being named top goalie in the South-East Manitoba Hockey League three times.

At the same time though, he was giving back to sport; Mutcheson coached minor hockey from 1950-85. He helped to build outdoor rinks complete with boards, lights and dressing rooms. “The kids needed someone to work with them. The outdoor rink in Morden was a gathering place. On a Saturday you couldn’t see the ice for kids.”

Hockey was a great love, but it is his career as a builder in baseball that has garnered the most attention. Mutcheson coached minor baseball from 1950-78 in Morden and also in Steinbach, and regionals were won along the way.

Jim Mutcheson was instrumental in building the Morden Ball Park in 1961, and he helped Steinbach do the same while residing there.

He and wife Sylvia were 1964 Citizens of the Year in Morden. They raised six boys and two girls. Mutcheson began working with other youngsters before his own children came along. He is very proud of the accomplishments of his children, his own and the extended family he worked with.

A driving force behind the Little League program from 1958-85, Mutcheson also coached Man-Dak to the Little League Provincial titles twice and to Silver Medals at the Western Canadians in 1966. Serving as Chairman of Little Canadian Baseball from 1974-82, he was honoured by the Legion with the Meritorious Service Medal for his tireless efforts in communities in which he and Sylvia lived. He also received the 60th Anniversary Medal.

Jim Mutcheson was inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame in Morden in 1999.