Plans are in the works to build three new athletic facilities in the Black Diamond area.

The Oilfields Sports Association and Drillers Athletic Society have joined forced to build two new baseball diamonds and a multi-purpose field complete with a running track.

Robert Jamieson, vice-president of the Oilfields Sports Association, said the fields will give children a place to play and keep them active.

Robert Jamieson, vice-president of the Oilfields Sports Association shows the proposed site of a new track and field facility behind Oilfields High School in Black Diamond. photo by Rick Northrop

“If you keep a kid active you keep him out of trouble,” said Jamieson. “We see so much in the schools when it comes to budget cuts the first things to go are arts and athletics.”

The proposed site for the first baseball diamond is C. Ian McLaren School in Black Diamond and the other may be slated for Turner Valley. The multi-purpose field will be built behind Oilfields High School in Black Diamond.

Jamieson said new sports fields, estimated to cost between $350,000 and $450,000, will help attract residents and provide an economic boost to the two towns.

“The whole thing is not just getting fields, it’s getting a place to play,” said Jamieson.

Funds will be raised through both private and government sources said Jamieson. If all goes well, all three of the athletic facilities will be finished by spring 2012. In the meantime, the focus is on raising money and getting contractors in place.

“If we were able to get the funding this summer, we would not really be able to start construction until after next season,” said Jamieson, who works as a renovations coordinator with the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT).

“It’s a pretty aggressive schedule, but I think it can be done.”

According to Katrina Diebel, chair of the Drillers Athletic Society, without proper facilities the towns of Black Diamond and Turner Valley are losing out on the potential economic boost hosting tournaments provides.

“We’d love to be able to have a rugby tournament and be able to host things in this town but we can’t,” said Diebel.

Children aged 16 years and older must play most competitive sports in Okotoks, High River or Calgary due to a lack of proper facilities in either town. Diebel said she believes new fields would also help uncover potential athletic talents in the communities.

“Every time you can’t host something you lose money,” said Diebel.

Jamieson said the athletic associations already have an agreement in principle in place with the Town of Black Diamond and will be meeting with Turner Valley town council, Feb. 16.

The new facility behind Oilfields High School will include a long jump pit, a shale running track, high jump pits and a multi-purpose field. This would mean replacing a ball diamond that currently sits in the northeast corner of the school grounds. The diamond would be moved to a new site at C. Ian McLaren School.

Organizers have plans to ask Turner Valley town council to set aside a possible site for the second baseball diamond, which would feature dugouts and bleachers.

“We already have a lot of facilities in Black Diamond so we are going to put some in Turner Valley,” said Jamieson.

rnorthrop@okotoks.greatwest.ca

0 Click Here to 'Like' this post

 Email This Post  Print This Post