Hub Staff

An immediate need for additional ball diamonds in Saugeen Shores was brought before Saugeen Shores Council July 10.

Andy Dunlop, President of Saugeen Shores Minor Ball along with Bill Clarke, President of Men’s Slo-Pitch and Ann MacKay, Vice President of Women’s Slo-Pitch created the presentation for Council with Dunlop and Clarke present at the Committee of Whole meeting. 

Dunlop said that the number of users for minor ball has doubled since 2013, from 141 to 352, with all leagues making up a total of over 1,200 local users. “This year there are 509 men playing in the men’s slo-pitch league, almost 400 women playing in the women’s league, there’s three local fastball teams which is more than 1,250 users of the ball diamonds in town,” he said.

Dunlop went onto say there are scheduling issues and challenges and with significant growth expected in Saugeen Shores in the coming years, the problem is only going to get worse.

“There is a challenge this year between the three largest user groups of scheduling diamond times,” he said. “I’ve got parents rushing kids to have a practice and an evening game starting at 5 o’clock, that means they have to leave work early, they have to make other arrangements.” Dunlop added that expecting a team to come from out of town for a 5 o’clock game is “pretty difficult.”

Dunlop also said that he turned eight out of town teams away for a recent tournament because of a lack of diamond space. "I had 22 teams come to town... we used all the diamonds all day, every day... I would love to grow that tournament," he said.

Clarke said that Men’s Slo-Pitch has also had put a cap on the number of teams that can register each year due to a shortage of diamond space.

In the Recreation Master Plan released in 2016 Monteith Brown recommended two additional lit ball diamonds be added within Saugeen Shores in the next five years, plus an additional three diamonds within ten years but, Dunlop said, the need is immediate.

Mayor and Council were in support of expediting the process with Mayor Mike Smith saying it was a matter of money and location. Town CAO David Smith cautioned Council to not be overly reactive and ensure that long term goals were being considered.

Mayor Mike Smith said it was a good problem to have and suggested that Council direct staff to come back “at the earliest opportunity with some recommendations that we can put into the 2018 budget." Smith ensured Dunlop that Council would get to an answer “as quick as we can.”