Janet Lynn Morrison was born with limited physical abilities. She was, however, blessed with a big heart filled with love. Janet enjoyed most sports from an early age but, we all knew that she was not destined for success as a player. She devoted herself to doing little things for others and these things she did with great love. She dedicated herself to being the best fan she could be. As a fan, Janet was fiercely loyal to teams who were blessed to have her cheering for their side. Janet’s mom was raised in Massachusetts, so Janet, very early on, chose teams with names like Patriots, Celtics, Bruins and Red Soxs as the teams to root for. One year after the Montreal Canadians had just beaten out her Bruins for the Stanley Cup , Janet immediately rose from her chair, crossed the room and promptly mooned the entire Canadians team as they received their trophy. Then came the Toronto Raptors; Vince Carter was a little lower than a god.

Most things that attracted Janet’s interest, she liked to do alone. She soon took interest in word-search puzzles. She was very proud to show those perfect puzzles to others as she completed each one. Only rarely did she mention to those outside the family what the secret of her ability with these puzzles was. Her family knew that her friend, Sharon Anne MacSween, taught Janet a little known secret of completing these puzzles successfully. There were certain pages in the back of most puzzle books which showed the answers. If one were to tear-out these special pages and match them to the puzzles in front of the book, VOILA! It was that simple! Janet’s mistakes in doing word-search puzzles were rare birds, indeed!

But, more than any place or activity on earth; it is here between the gym walls of Breton Education Centre that Janet Lynn Morrison truly rose to be everything she could be as a fan. Throughout her whole adult life, Janet was constantly on the prowl for a boyfriend. Her only two qualifications were that, firstly, he had to be cute and secondly, he had to be cute. She always loved the song, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow "and many times mentioned to her mom and dad that she wanted that song sung at her wedding when she found the right man.

During the very first game of Coal Bowl that Janet attended, it was as if she had found the Holy Grail of potential boyfriends .They were all soooo cute and sooo many to choose from and all in one place. For almost thirty years Janet could be seen, right over there cheering on the Bears; praying, wishing and dreaming that her Bears would win the trophy. After years of frustration, in order to propel her Bears toward achieving this goal, Janet invented the two-sided basketball.

To her father Ray’s knowledge, the Coal Bowl Classic is still the only tournament on earth to use the two-sided basketball in real-time competition. Janet grew to love everything about Coal Bowl. As soon as her last Christmas gift was opened, Janet’s every thought and conversation was about getting ready for Coal Bowl. Her family had to find Eddy the black and white Teddy bear, locate her Coal Bowl Jersey and prepare hand-drawn and hand-painted signs to bring luck to her Bears during their games. The final detail was of course putting on lipstick on game days. Janet had a no-holds-barred attitude when it came to cheering-on her Bears. She was loud, she was persistent, she sometimes invoked magic words and actions. Many times, Janet was observed wiggling her little fingers in the air in an attempt to prevent an opposing player from scoring on a free-throw. She was also known to clench her fists and close her eyes tightly in an attempt to force the ball through the hoop when it was a Bear player who was at the line. Janet was totally present at every single game she attended for over thirty years. She loved this place and her family has come to realize that this place loved her, too.

On October 29, 2022, Janet’s BEC Bears, their coaches, former coaches and trainers stood as Honor Guard in St. Leonard Church as her family attended her Celebration of Life. On February 4, 2023 the Breton Education Bears were presented with the J. Bryden MacDonald Memorial Trophy as Coal Bowl Champions. We have no doubt that Janet played a role in that.

It is with great honor that the Coal Bowl Board of Directors names the late Janet Lynn Morrison as Division Chair for Coal Bowl 2024.

Ian MacIsaac’s love for basketball started at a young age. In elementary school, he was invited to practice and play with his brother Blair’s basketball team, where his love for athletics began to grow. At age 8, Ian joined Cape Breton Special Olympics where he started in both a swim program and a gym program. This eventually morphed into basketball as his interest grew. Since then, Ian has been playing basketball on a weekly basis.

Currently, Ian is a member of the Special Olympics Unified Team, where he is known for his 3 point game. He keeps busy playing and attending skills development practices weekly. The team can sometimes be seen scrimmaging during halftime at the Cape Breton University’s mens and women’s home basketball games. Ian also participates in the Nova Scotia Summer Games program held in the province every July, and in the Motion-ball Cape Breton program every summer which raises thousands of dollars for Special Olympic programs here in Cape Breton. In 2019, Ian played in the International Youth Invitational Special Olympic Games held in Toronto, where hundreds of athletes from around the world participated. The event was televised by TSN who happened to capture Ian’s fancy dance moves during the opening ceremonies.

Ian also played on the first high school unified basketball team that same year. After all these accomplishments, Ian’s real dream came true when he was invited to play a high school basketball game with the BEC Bears before his high school graduation. Following this in 2022, he was presented with a BEC basketball jersey, sporting number 8, which is his favorite number, by the BEC Bears at the Opening Ceremonies for their provincial tournament. Besides his accomplishments as a player, Ian was also an honorary coach for the BEC Bears Unified Team who participated in the 2023 Coal Bowl Games. During the finals seconds of the game, Ian was called off the bench and sank a 3 pointer to tie the game.

Currently, Ian works full-time in the maintenance department at Horizon Achievement Centre attending Monday to Friday. In his free time, he loves playing guitar, singing and following his favorite band Big Time Rush, who he got to meet this past summer.

Ian is 25 and shares his Halloween birthday with his twin brother Blair and his dad Scott. His biggest supporters are his parents, Nancy and Scott, siblings Clare and Blair and extended family and friends.

The Coal Bowl Board of Directors is thrilled to name Ian McIsaac as Division Chair for Coal Bowl 2024!