Another sports track? I find this extremely upsetting. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all for encouraging the old and young alike to participate in as many physical activities as possible.
However, the idea of spending $7.8 million on the proposed community sports facility seems completely ridiculous. We already have an oval in Polson Park. I have lived in Vernon for 37 years and rarely do I ever see that track being used. If anyone was to ever need use of the track, it is available almost 100 per cent of the time. If one desired to play soccer, rugby or any other field sports there are always many choices such as McDonald Park, Marshall Fields and the list goes on. To spend the huge estimated sum of $7.8 million to have more fields sitting empty seems a complete waste of tax dollars.
Where is the demand for another soccer field or running track? The ones we have sit empty all the time.
I encourage anyone reading this to make a phone call to Vernon Parks and Recreation and try to book a weekly ice time for hockey. If you are not willing to make the call, let me tell you what will happen when you do. All ice times in Vernon will be booked solid. If there is any time available it will be at 5:30 a.m. or 11 p.m. We have a severe shortage of opportunity for anyone looking to book ice for things like hockey, skating or ringette. How can this be? This is Canada.
Can anyone name one professional soccer player, rugby star or track star? No? Well how about a hockey player? That’s what I thought. So somebody please explain to me why we are going to build another oval and soccer field to sit empty when we are so short on ice times in Vernon that we can’t even play at all. If anyone really thinks that I have a valid point here, take it one step further.
Try calling Lumby and Armstrong to book an ice time. Once again you’ll find they’re booked solid as Vernon’s demand spills into these communities and fills their schedules as well. In my opinion, the new community sports field is not at all what Vernon needs.
Our existing fields already sit empty, yet ice time is impossible to get. Let’s spend the money where it is truly needed and where the shortage actually exists, and that’s a new ice facility that will be booked solid in the first week it’s made available to the public.
I think many would agree that it’s a tragedy that here in Vernon, we can’t play Canada’s game because there is nowhere available to play.
Tyler Cull, Vernon
