THE BATTLEFORDS - The growth in popularity of baseball in the Battlefords was front and centre on the agenda of North Battleford city council Monday.
Councillors heard from Sheldon Wakelin, treasurer of Battlefords Minor Baseball Inc., who was joined by other representatives from the organization including president Clinton Gieni.
Their presentation outlined the needs of their organization for more diamonds in the coming years. It is an issue that has emerged as a byproduct of the “good news” story of the revival of baseball interest in the Battlefords in recent years.
BMBI was established in 2015 in an effort to revitalize baseball in the area. Since then, participation has grown.
Wakelin cited projections of 325 participants in BMBI by 2022. With those numbers, it would mean BMBI would be out of space to accommodate all of them, including spectators. They are also projecting growth of 15 to 20 players per year.
BMBI has identified a need for two new diamonds to be developed for the 2022 season. One suggestion from BMBI is for a U8 and U11 combined diamond at the northwest corner of the current Kinsmen diamond facilities. The other would be at the Sakewew School Field, which could be designed to host any age group.
According to information from BMBI, North Battleford has three U8 fields, one U11 diamond, one U15 diamond and one U18 diamond. There are additional diamonds in the city that are softball-zoned.
Ideally, Wakelin said, there would be two baseball facilities for each age group: one for practices and the other for games.
“We don’t ever want to see any kids not being able to play,” said Wakelin, who expressed concern they may have to turn kids away.
The presentation was informational in nature; no final decisions were made at the meeting. Mayor David Gillan said there would be more follow-up discussions with the Department of Leisure Services.
