Heighton inducted into Manitoba Hall of Fame

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/11/2016 (3565 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Former Winnipeg Blue Bomber Jim Heighton, 72, is a natural athlete who has excelled at football, baseball, soccer, basketball and track and field events.

And he was honoured for his achievements — which include being named the Canadian Football League’s outstanding Canadian player in 1974 and 1976 — when he was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame on Nov. 5.

Heighton, who lives above an equestrian centre on 30 acres in the RM of St. Francois Xavier, said he was blessed with a combination of natural athletic ability and the desire to compete.

He said he was drawn to running and playing soccer and baseball as a child growing up in Vancouver.

“If I couldn’t find anyone to play baseball with, I would bounce a ball off the school wall,” he said.

He later joined school sports teams In Vancouver and Maple Ridge, after his family moved there while he was in high school. He recalls playing hardball in the early 1960s on a very competitive team.

After graduating from high school, Heighton started working for finance companies. He moved around B.C. but continued to be active in sports.

“I would go and play my sports in whatever city I was in.” he said.

He got his break in the late ’60s when he got a call out of the blue from B.C. Lions coach Jim Champion who invited him to the team’s training camp.

“I was an athlete who really didn’t play football,” Heighton said, but he’d been scouted when he was playing offensive tackle with the Victoria Steelers in 1966-67.

He said the CFL’s rules on Canadian players helped him secure a spot. He knew he was green but was determined to watch and learn.

“I could run and I could hit,” he said. He credits Champion with encouraging him to develop his ability as a defensive tackle.

Heighton was cut by the Lions but was picked up by the Blue Bombers in 1970. He moved his family to Winnipeg and spent nine seasons with the Bombers, missing just one game in that time. He was named to the CFL all-star team three times and was named the Bombers’ outstanding linesman in 1976.

One of Heighton’s most prized possessions is the ring he received in 2014 when he was inducted into the Bombers Hall of Fame.

He ended his football career in 1981 after two seasons with the Hamilton Tiger Cats and a season with the Montreal Alouettes.

His only regret is that he never played on a team that won a Grey Cup.

During his time with the Bombers, Heighton and his family bought the property in SFX, situated between the Trans-Canada Highway and Assiniboine River. He still loves the rural environment and nearby access to Beaudry Provincial Park.
From 1988 to 1996, Heighton owned and raced a thoroughbred, Limbo Mission, a relative of

the famous Northern Dancer, a stallion that won the Kentucky Derby in 1964. He still has a few horses but isn’t directly involved in breeding and racing anymore.

His childhood interest in soccer has continued and he now plays defence twice weekly in the Manitoba Golden Masters Soccer Club for men over 50 years.

He’s also proud of his baseball career, which spans three decades. Heighton was inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009 as a member of the Giroux Athletics team, and in 2011 for representing Manitoba in the 1988 Western Canadian championships and for being on the Grosse Isle Blue Jays senior men’s team that won the Manitoba Interlake League championships in 1990 and 1993.

Heighton still plays forward on a senior men’s basketball team, but admits that he is sometimes sidelined by hip pain.

Ever game for a challenge, Heighton competed in the Canadian masters track and field championships in Regina, Sask., in 2008 and won gold medals in weight and hammer throws, shot put and pentathlon. He repeated this feat at the next championships in 2013.
While he’s looking for a buyer for his unique horse stable and house, Heighton said he plans to stay in the area.

“I love it out here,” he said, opening a binder with colorful photos of many of the plant species that grow along the riverfront property.

Facebook.com/TheHeadlinerWPG
Twitter: @CanstarHeadline