On the day the St. Thomas Tommies men’s and women’s volleyball teams saluted their graduating seniors, they saved the best for last.

The athletes – Austin Hamilton, the lone senior on the men’s team, and Maddie MacGregor, Madison Ball, Ryley Horton and Andrea Bell, the four women who will end their careers in green and gold shortly, were honoured in pregame ceremonies prior to the final regular season home matches on Sunday.

They waited until after to pay tribute to the most senior of their seniors.

Don McKay, the Bathurst native who has been the head coach of the women’s team for the past 11 seasons, was honoured after the team’s final regular season home game Sunday. The Tommies completed the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association regular season schedule with a 3-0 sweep of the Dalhousie Agricultural College Rams of Truro, N.S., improving McKay’s career record to 111-80 overall as the Tommies prepare for the ACAA tournament beginning Friday at UNBSJ.

Some 300 fans, including Nancy, his wife of 48 years, and his daughter Melissa, gave him a thunderous standing ovation, and STU athletic director Meaghan Donahue Wies presented him with a framed photograph of himself in that familiar, pensive pose he struck for the final time at home on Sunday.

“When I first met Don, he was playing volleyball, and since then he’s coached or played, but mostly coached every season of volleyball,” Nancy said. “He loves it. It’s great to have him back, but I think he’s going to miss it.”

McKay confesses he’ll miss the relationships he’s formed with players and coaches around the campus. But he’s ready.

“It’s time,” he said. “I’ve got grandkids and all that kind of good stuff. It’s been a good run. We had some wonderful players…a lot of good people have come through the program, and we encouraged them to keep getting involved and staying involved, whether they be coaching or officiating or whatever.”

When he talks about highlights of a coaching career that has spanned some 50 years in all – it began in Bathurst when he took over as head coach of a junior baseball team at 21 years old after he was too old to play – he lists not championships or games or matches, but people.

He’s coached 76 Tommies players over his tenure. In the hour before they took the court at the LB Gym for the final time, “I told them to enjoy today,” he said. “This is your last time together as a group of 17…so whatever it is, you make it. It will be a fun day.”

“Coach McKay’s impact extends far beyond the wins and losses on the court,” said third-year setter Julia Campbell. “He has been a source of inspiration, pushing each player to discover their full potential.”

“Don has not only shaped athletes, but shaped character,” said team captain Maddie MacGregor. “His impact will be felt for generations to come.”

“He’s helped me grow a lot as a leader, a player, and a person,” said MacGregor. “He’s always taught us to be a person first, over a player. He’s always cared about our well being…he’s taught me to grow and be independent and stick up for myself…I’ve grown a lot over the last five years. I’m a lot more confident now and more comfortable with myself. Seeing him every day, being able to talk to him about everything I have going on in my life and always offering support has really helped me out.”

Donahue Wies has the enviable task of finding McKay’s successor. It’s a tall task.

“There is no ‘next Don McKay’ I don’t think, but somebody who can take that approach to building people as much as building athletes,” she said.

“He’s just such a good person,” Donahue Wies said. “He’s a good, kind, genuine person who cares so much about others. The culture he’s built, the ‘person first’ mentality that he has, is just so special. It’s exactly what we’re trying to foster throughout the entire school. We’re going to miss him.”

“I feel it’s good to have new blood coming in,” McKay said. “Somebody younger…male, female, it doesn’t matter to me, as long as they’ve got the kids at heart. Go for it.”

The Tommies will go for it at the ACAA playoff tournament at UNBSJ this weekend. McKay’s crew finished fifth in the final standings with an 8-10 record and will play in the quarterfinals Friday at 1pm. Henri Mallet’s men’s team finished third in the five team men’s circuit with an 8-8 record and will play in Saturday’s semifinals.

Don and Nancy will head for Florida in mid-March and then continue on to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to enjoy time with daughter Melissa and son Bradley and their two young grandchildren.

While he won’t be striking that pensive pose on the coaching sidelines next season, McKay will be a regular in the stands.

“He’ll be here as much as he was, I’ll bet,” said Nancy.

“You better believe it,” said Don. “Both here and at UNB…I just love coming to watch.”