Jim McDonald’s position as chairperson of the men’s nominating committee for the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame was once described as being one of the 10 toughest jobs in lacrosse. It’s one of those jobs where you can never make everyone happy, and of course, those who aren’t are quick to let you know.

“Oh, sure, I’ve had lots of phone calls from people who were disappointed that their candidates didn’t get in,” said McDonald, 89, who stepped down as chair in 2011 and retired from the committee in 2016. “But that’s unavoidable.”

The fact that McDonald himself will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Saturday, after 24 years as the chair of the committee and 30 years overall as a committee member, serves as testimony to how well he navigated those difficult waters.

“The hardest thing about the job is there are so many outstanding people, and we only take in five a year,” he said. “But ultimately, the ones who are deserving get in.”

McDonald recounted a story that highlighted just how contentious the process can be. Complaints can come from all quarters, even from those who supported one of the selections.

“When we took in [Syracuse coach] Roy Simmons Jr., I got a call from a newspaperman in Syracuse. I thought he would be happy.  But he was upset that we were, in his opinion, so late in taking Roy in,” McDonald said. “I explained to him that the truth was, Roy came in sooner after winning his first national championship than any other coach ever elected to the Hall of Fame.”

 

McDonald’s selection to the Hall as a “truly great contributor” serves as an appropriate reflection of his lifetime of service to the game.  After excelling as a player at Towson (Md.) High School, Washington and Lee University, and later, as a member of the famed Mount Washington Lacrosse Club, McDonald served as coach at the University of Baltimore from 1956 to 1963. UB won four championships during that time and amassed a 67-15-2 record over eight seasons, including a run of three straight undefeated campaigns.

At the request of the legendary Dinty Moore, in 1964 McDonald joined the board of the Lacrosse Foundation, which managed the Hall of Fame, among other duties. He served that organization until 1981, including two-year stints as both president and vice-president, as well as four years as chair of the youth lacrosse committee. He returned to the Hall of Fame committee in 1987.

McDonald worked tirelessly in establishing rec league programs in Baltimore and other regions of the country, and piloted early efforts to broadcast lacrosse on television. He also was instrumental as a fundraiser for what became the home of the Lacrosse Foundation, the Hall of Fame and, eventually, US Lacrosse — a facility adjacent to Johns Hopkins’ Homewood Field that served as US Lacrosse headquarters until May 2016.

Following a longtime career in the insurance business, McDonald returned to high school coaching in the mid-1990s as a volunteer assistant, and continued in that role for 13 seasons.

Having been associated with the game for more than 75 years, McDonald is aptly described by some as a lacrosse lifer. Mickey Webster, a 1977 Hall of Fame inductee, once said, “I know of no one who has done more for the game of lacrosse during his lifetime than Jim McDonald.”

Several years ago, speaking about the Hall of Fame selection process, McDonald said, “The committee members are all men of integrity and they are very knowledgeable. Their decisions are based on facts and records. Most of the people we pick jump out at you as soon as we start deliberating.”

Applying that same criteria, McDonald now takes his place alongside the many that he helped to enshrine through the years.

Doug Knight, Leslie Blankin Lane, Jim McDonald, Laurette Payette, Casey Powell, Jill Johnson Redfern, Brooks Sweet, Robyn Nye Wood and Don Zimmerman will be inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in a black tie-optional ceremony Sept. 23 at The Grand Lodge in Hunt Valley, Md. For more information, visit uslacrosse.org/hof.