As a 16 year old pitcher, Chas. Rusen joined the elite softball league in Winnipeg in 1932. A member of the YMHA Senior Men’s Diamond Ball Team from 1932 to 1939, his pitching prowess is noted in many newspaper clippings and articles in the library archives. With a tandum of strong pitchers, YMHA won the Diamond Ball League Championship five out of six years between 1932 and 1937, capturing both the league and provincial titles in 1934. Feats of Dr. Rusen's "tooth pulling arm" earned him the Tobias - Picard Trophy, emblematic of being voted the Most Valuable Player of the Winnipeg Senior Diamond Ball League in 1938. With a knack for winning the "big games", his pitching career was interrupted by a four year stint as an Army Dentist from 1942-1945. Dr. Rusen retired as a player/coach with Northern Hotel in 1951 and passed away in 2004.