Delta’s cricket players finally have a home after the city opened its first pitch, located in North Delta’s Delview Park.
The pitch is situated between two baseball diamonds, next to the off-leash dog park. The project includes an asphalt strip, covered with a low-profile synthetic turf, and fifteen-foot-high safety netting along the eastern edge to prevent errant cricket balls from reaching the dog park. It was approved by council in early February, with a budget of $35,000, and the province kicked in another $175,000 on April 5 to support the project and other upgrades to Delview Park.
Premier John Horgan joined Delta North MLA Ravi Kahlon, Mayor George Harvie and members of the BC Mainland Cricket League in officially opening the pitch on Thursday, May 23.
“I think I may well be the first premier, certainly in this century, that has had a passion for cricket,” Horgan said. “Already hundreds of people are playing cricket in the region and we need to make sure that they can stay right here at home and play the game.”
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| Premier John Horgan joined Delta North MLA Ravi Kahlon (left) and Delta Mayor George Harvie (not pictured) on May 23 to open the new cricket pitch at Delview Park. (James Smith photo) |
“Team sport for me brings together people of different backgrounds, different abilities, so that they can have a common purpose of success. That’s what life is about, working with other people of diverse backgrounds, of diverse interests, for a common purpose of making a better society, a better community, a stronger province. So this pitch, although it represents a great breakthrough for cricket in the region, it also represents an opportunity for the good people of Delta to get outside, to participate more.”
Harjit Sandhu, president, BC Mainland Cricket League, told the Reporter the new pitch means a lot to the 200-plus cricket players in Delta who up until now had to leave the city — sometimes traveling as far as Seattle — to join a club and play against other teams.
“Now they have a home, they don’t have to get up at eight o’clock in the morning to drive for three hours or two hours. I think it’s a great opportunity,” he said, adding that the league is already fielding calls and emails from kids eager to join.
In order to accommodate growing interest in the sport among youth, the league started three U-13 and four U-16 teams last season. This year, the number of youth teams in each division has doubled.
“So the numbers have grown, but the problem for us was to accept [more youth] we had to cut down games for seniors, unless we got more facilities,” Sandhu said. “For Delta we’ve got 200-some players right now, but with this [pitch] and if we get more facilities, our numbers could go to thousands.”
Sandhu said Delta residents are currently playing with 13 BCMCL clubs around the Lower Mainland — two people even make the trek all the way out to Abbotsford to play — and he believes it’s only a matter of time before players start developing their own clubs closer to home.
“I’ve been coming here almost every evening just to get the ground ready and marked up and all that, I see kids playing here every day and they’re not part of our league. They’re just new kids from all around the neighbourhood. So it’s good to see.”
“We want to see kids on the [pitch], we want to see the kids competing instead of kids going out and doing drugs or being part of the gangs. I think sports kind of teaches you a way of life, you know? Discipline, being organized, taking challenges, commitment, this is all part of sports.”
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| Delta Mayor George Harvie (centre) was joined by Premier John Horgan(left) and Delta North MLA Ravi Kahlon (right) on May 23 to open the new cricket pitch at Delview Park. (James Smith photo) |
Mayor Harvie also spoke to the importance of keeping youth active, and thanked council for acting quickly so the pitch could be ready in time to be used this season.
“When I found out … that many of our youth that wanted to play — and adults that wanted to play — cricket, they had to leave Delta, I was determined not to let that happen again. So I really appreciate our council stepping up and putting this project on the fast track,” he said.
Harvie said the city will be spending just under $500,000 on refurbishing the park, adding the province’s $175,000 contribution “allows us just to do a complete project.”
Delta’s director of parks, recreation and culture, Ken Kuntz, told the Reporter the city is planning to replace the aging washrooms at Delview Park and build a new picnic shelter to serve the large group of regulars — many of them seniors — who meet most days to play cards and socialize.
As well, the city is looking at adding further amenities, including batting cages and practice facilities for both cricket and baseball, and the possibility of relocating the fenced off-leash dog park and making it bigger.
“That’s part of the consultation we’ll have with the community and the users of the park,” Kuntz said. “We’re going to go out the community in June — and that will involve both the user groups as well as the neighbourhood — with some plans and suggest what some of these things might look like and get feedback. Assuming that we get positive feedback and there’s some degree of consensus or buy-in, then we’ll proceed with the plan back to council and then proceed with the actual implementation following that.”
Kuntz estimated the plan would be before council sometime this summer, with construction happening in the fall.
Delta North MLA Ravi Kahlon called Thursday’s opening a “very special day” for all those in the community who have been working for years to see not only a cricket pitch but also upgraded amenities at Delview Park.
“The community’s been advocating for facilities, a place to play, for a long time and Mayor Harvie, a few months into being mayor, I really appreciate him listening, coming out to the community and listening to the needs of what we need here, and him and his council acting very quickly,” Kahlon said.
“Many people in our community, they don’t care whose responsibility is what, they just want things done and they want everybody working together, and this is a great example of all of us working together.”
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