The advent of the baseball season again shines a light on Oak Bay’s neglect of youth sports and our community ball fields and recreation culture.
Our fields are neglected by this municipality, our games are forced to end early as the lack of field lights cast darkness over kids on spring nights, sound speakers and scoreboards provide intermittent reliability, seating is decrepit, and it is no surprise that our games are poorly attended.
This past week we had the opportunity to have our Carnvaron ball club play at Hollywood Park (City of Victoria), Lambrick Park (Gordon Head), and Triangle Park (Langford) – all were alive with 60-plus spectators, the fields were meticulously maintained, concession stands were open with lineups, night lights made games feel like the ‘big leagues’, sound systems blasted player names and even the national anthem, bleachers were clean, and scoreboards tracked. It was not due to a more invested volunteer parent group or more skillful ball players – it was because the mayor and council have chosen to invest in these places… and people like to congregate in well-maintained places.
I call for a moratorium on pickleball court improvements. Get moving on Carnarvon Park revitalization and, in the meantime, spend my tax dollars on field maintenance and iterative improvements to our existing youth recreation infrastructure. This feels like another lost opportunity to generate the feeling of “community.” A ball season in this rich municipality should not rest on the shoulders of tax-paying parent volunteers.
Emily Horton
Oak Bay
