Turning a childhood dream into a pathway for young athletes
Haley McDonald grew up in the Valley, spending countless hours in the stands cheering on the Acadia University Axewomen and imagining herself on the court one day.
Like many kids, she first picked up the sport to be with her friends, but kept playing out of a genuine love for the game.
“I’m a bit of an introvert, so being able to go get shots up by myself taught me discipline, commitment, and integrity,” she says. “You can always get better. You can always find new skills to improve on.”
Growing up, women’s sport outside the university wasn’t always visible to Haley. “I honestly didn’t even know there was a WNBA or NCAA; for me, it was Acadia basketball.”
Haley eventually went on to play for Acadia, capturing AUS titles in 2018 and 2019, then briefly played professionally in Germany before realizing coaching was the next play in her game plan.
“My first love will always be basketball,” she says. “Coaching lets me stay engaged and, more importantly, puts women in positions of leadership so girls and boys can see it’s possible here.”
For Haley, sport is about the shared experience of learning, growing, and belonging. “Sport gets kids moving, meeting people, learning to fail safely, and working toward a shared goal. I didn’t feel like I belonged until I found teams.”
That sense of belonging is what she now strives to build in others, but she says there’s still a gap in Nova Scotia when it comes to access. High-performance training often happens at national camps outside the province, making it hard for local coaches and athletes to gain exposure.
That’s where funding makes the difference. Since 2006, the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation has funded athletes, coaches, officials and community sport organizations across Nova Scotia through its Support4Sport program, administered by Sport Nova Scotia. Funded by the proceeds from designated lottery products, Nova Scotians have raised more than $68 million for Support4Sport.
“Because Nova Scotia Gaming has Support4Sport, I’ve been able to experience opportunities I’d never get here—like the U16 assessment and senior national team training camps—and bring those drills, standards, and culture back to my teams.”
Those experiences help her give young athletes the same sense of possibility she once felt watching others compete.
She still looks back to the moment that dream took shape for her: “When I was in grade seven or grade eight, I wrote a note under my pillow that said, ‘I’m going to play for the Axewomen one day.’”
And she did. Now, she’s helping the next generation achieve dreams of their own.
